It’s a new year and even though the season on both the PGA and European Tours have already started, most players will treat the first tournament of 2017 as the beginning of their new season. The wraparound seasons make a lot of sense logistically for the Tours, but I feel that for us players, January feels like a new start.

I have often been asked around the New Year’s time about my golfing wishes for the year. So, let me try and put them together over here.

In 2017, my personal wish is to stay healthy and injury-free. It’s almost been four years that I have had one niggle or the other, and that’s never good for any athlete. I want to put in my 100 per cent into my practice sessions, and I want to spend more time on the driving range and less time with the physios.

Apart from that, I am going to work hard to regain my full status on the European Tour, and qualify for the majors. I know I am getting older by the day, but there are so many fantastic examples of players who have shown that if you are physically fit and willing to sweat it out, you can be successful at any age.

My other wish for 2017 is to see an Asian major winner. I just get the feeling that we are very close to someone joining the list that has only one entry at the moment — YE Yang at the 2009 PGA Championship.

Obviously, our best bet is Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama. The way he finished 2016 — four wins and a second place in his last five starts — shows that he is in great form. I do expect him to compete in all four majors, and not just because he is a world-class golfer, but also because Hideki has terrific mental strength. That really is the key to doing well in big events.

Having said that, Hideki is still part of the Japan Golf Tour. I’m thinking more in terms of someone from the Asian Tour contending at the highest level. There are some brilliant new players emerging from the Tour, and the fact that we now have as many as 20 players in the top-200 of the world rankings, clearly shows that the depth of talent at the top level is increasing.

I remember the time I first broke into the top-100 of the world rankings. I think apart from me, the only other Asian player in that list was KJ Choi. And as our players get more and more opportunities to compete against quality fields, they will only get better.

My third and final wish is for Indian golf to continue raising its standards and make some noise on the world stage. It’s great that we now have Anirban Lahiri on the PGA Tour, and I am impressed with his single-mindedness to succeed in America. We also have a representative now on the LPGA Tour in Aditi Ashok. What a year the 18-year-old has had in 2016 and she will only get better with age.

But we have so many other talented young stars — like Gaganjeet Bhullar, S. Chikkarangappa, Shubhankar Sharma and Rashid Khan among others — that the future looks bright.

Here is looking forward to 2017 and hoping all my wishes come true.

(Jeev Milkha Singh is a four-time champion on the European Tour)