Life on Tour can be tough, and after spending long stretches away from home in Kolkata the last couple of seasons, Viraj Madappa will concur. Looking into matters on the golf course require unwavering attention anyway, travel schedules and other matters as add-ons on a weekly basis add to the challenge.
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This week of the PGTI MP Cup, Viraj had it a tad easy. He had mother for company, and all the pampering and extraneous matters being taken care of left him to just focus on golf. It wasn’t easy though despite the happy end.
Exclusive to TheGolfingHub: Viraj Madappa after the PGTI MP Cup win
The final day at the Delhi Golf Club returned to showcase itself in a way that was a reflection of Viraj’s search for the next professional win after the monumental breakthrough on the Asian Tour with the 2018 Take Solutions Masters in Bangalore.
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The hard taskmaster that he is, Viraj immediately embarked on writing a script that would ensure that the second trophy came in quickly. It didn’t. The canvas had got bigger, perhaps quicker than he had thought, and the series of missed cut on the Asian Tour frustrated to an extent that keeping his card got tough.
It was belief that kept him going, that “golf was about learning the process of shaving off one shot at a time from the scorecard and family support puts the mind at ease on the golf course”.
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If an insight is required, cut to this week. Mother by the side, and the comfort of knowing she was watching every shot from the cart path a few metres away is what familial ties are all about.
It wasn’t as if Friday was a flash in the pan. Viraj started this season with strong results on the Professional Golf Tour of India before the pandemic struck. The time away due to lockdown allowed time for introspection. The return wasn’t bad but not good enough.
Read More: After brush with suffering, Viraj’s belief, ‘more to life than golf’
Viraj got close a number of times but the inability to put together four good rounds was pulling him down. The closest he came to that elusive second win for which he was striving and putting himself under pressure was the Gujarat Open in February. Hole No 8 of the Kalhaar Blues and Greens stood in the way. Hyderabad, Srinagar had similar tales of coming close only to fall short.
The ingredients were right at DGC. Mother was walking the course, and the action was on the Lodhi Course, a “huge part of Indian golf history”. The onus was on Viraj to deliver, and he did despite the start to the final day that seemed a patch from the past.
Also Read: How abortive US college stint shaped Viraj’s Asian Tour win
