With Li Haotong winning the Volvo China Open on the European Tour and Byeong-hun An finishing second after losing in a three-man play-off in the Zurich Classic on the PGA Tour, I think the rising influence of Asian players in the world of golf is quite evident now.
While Korean An, who won the 2009 US Amateurs, has benefited a lot from the American system — he did his college in California — Haotong is one of the many true home-grown products that are now finding their feet on the ultra competitive Tours.
And there are so many like Haotong in various Asian countries who are on the verge of taking the world by storm.
India’s Anirban Lahiri is a great example. He learnt all his trade living in India and has had the same coach all his life. He slowly spread his wings, and his career is now in full flight after he gained the belief that he is good enough to win on any Tour in the world and against any opposition. He is a smart thinker on and off the golf course and I am sure what we saw of him last year is just the start. He is going to have a phenomenal career.
I can rattle off so many names like Lahiri. There is Korea’s Jueng-hun Wang, China’s Wu Ashun, Thailand’s Phachara Khongwatmai … the list is only growing bigger.
I have always believed in our potential. There is nothing lacking in our skill set. However, there are many other things that go into the making of a champion.
As I mentioned before, the first and foremost thing is to have complete belief in your own ability. The second is to take yourself out of your comfort zone. Everything else becomes easy once you have that kind of trust.
I have come across many players in Asia who I genuinely felt had the potential of becoming top-50 in the world. There was just one problem … they did not believe it themselves. Of course, there were other issues too. Some lacked education, which makes it very difficult to adapt to life in foreign countries because of language and food problems. And some were just content with what they achieved playing in their own countries. There was no hunger.
Another factor is the lack of exposure. The Asians hardly got a chance to show off their skills on the world stage. That has changed a lot in the last couple of decades. The joint sanctioned events with the European Tour definitely helped. These opportunities of rubbing shoulders with the best players in the world is important because that is the only way you get to know how good you are, or what are the things that you have to work on to become better.
Mark my word, Asia’s time is almost here.
(Jeev Milkha Singh is a four time champion on the European Tour)
