A couple of Asian Tour titles by seasoned campaigners may not count for muchbut Indian golf was clearly on the upswing as the year gone by set the tone fora bumper 2008 with mega co-sanctioned events lined up in the country.
Individually, however, it turned out to be an average season for thecountry's top-ranked pro Jeev Milkha Singh, who could not come anywhere close toreplicating last year's phenomenal success, which had yielded four titles.
After the high of reaching 37th in the world rankings in 2006, Jeev had tosettle for 77th at the end of this year.
The 36-year-old failed to defend the four titles -- Volvo Masters of Chinaand Volvo Masters of Europe and a couple of Japan Tour trophies -- that he wonlast year.
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The best that he could manage was tied third at the Japan Tour'sseason-ending Nippon Series JT Cup and even this seemed disappointing,considering the defending champion was within touching distance of holding on tothe title.
Where even a bogey would have forced a play-off, Jeev ended up with a doublebogey on the last hole which dropped him to a tie for third.
After a punishing 40-week schedule over the past couple of years, the golfingnomad decided to take a break and will resume playing in January with the RoyalTrophy between Asia and Europe in Thailand.
In contrast, it turned out to be an astounding year for Jyoti Randhawa, whobecame only the second player, after Australian legend Peter Thomson, to liftthree Indian Open titles to continue his love affair with the Delhi Golf Club.
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The 35-year-old also made his debut at the year's fourth major, the PGAChampionship in August, but packed off after playing just four holes, wiltingunder the excruciating temperatures at the Southern Hills Course in Oklahama.
The experience in the United States may not have been all that pleasing forthe Delhi pro but he made sure that his European sojourn remained pleasant.
In November, Randhawa capped a decent run in the European Tour by signing offtied ninth in the Volvo Masters of Europe at the Club de Golf Valderrama inSotogrande, Spain.
He ended a creditable 33rd in the European Tour's Order of Merit afterpocketing Euro 849,895 from 26 tournaments.
At home, he captured the AIS Open in April before wresting the DLF Masters inMay, taking time off his European schedule to adhere to his commitment as afounder member of the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI).
Besides, he also held on to his postion as Indian's second best golfer,finishing the year 87th in world rankings.
Gaurav Ghei also had reason to smile after he won the inaugural Pine ValleyBeijing Open to add a third Asian Tour title to his credit.
Ghei's consistent form on the Asian Tour saw him close at 10th on the Orderof Merit with earnings of USD 261,057 from 20 tournaments.
