Jyoti focusses on geography

As the Asian PGA Davidoff Tour makes a comeback to the oldest golfing nation outside the British Islands, the spotlight will firmly be trained on Jyoti Randhawa as he attempts to become the first player on the Asian PGA Tour to win the same title three years in a row.

However, on the eve of the $-200,000 Hero Honda Masters, which begins at the Arnold Palmer-designed DLF Golf & Country Club from Thursday, Randhawa dismissed history and instead showed his liking for geography.

"I am not at all bothered about creating history. I have not even been thinking about it. What is my immediate concern is how to tackle the course. I am pretty much familiar with the layout, but the speed of the greens mean that I will have to take a good look at my putting," said Randhawa, who is a brand ambassador for DLF Golf & Country Club.

Randhawa, who slipped to fourth place in the Order of Merit after last week's Lexus International, will have his task cut out in the presence of the top three Asian PGA Tour players - Yeh Wei-tze of Taiwan, Simon Dyson of England and Craig Kamps of South Africa.

Kamps will be the biggest threat, especially after his second-second-first finish in the last three events.

"I recently changed to custom-fitted options clubs and that seems to have clicked for me. It's been a good run for me so far, but this is a new week and it would be foolish to predict anything," said Kamps, who won the Lexus International last week.

Simon Dyson, who finished runner-up in Thailand, looked delighted when he saw the course.

"The greens and fairways here are top-class. I also like the layout and it suits my style. I never thought at the start of the season that the year will turn out to be like this. But I now need to do well here and the remaining few that I will play to win the Order of Merit. That would be something," said the Yorkshire-based rookie who won the Macau Open and the Volvo China Open in successive weeks.

The man to watch out for this week would be India's Gaurav Ghei. The winner of 1995 Gadgil Western Masters on the Asian PGA Tour is in superb form and won the HT ProGolf 2000 on this course with a four-day aggregate of 18-under. He then opened the Lexus International with a 65 before finishing tied for the 12th place.

"I am looking forward to the tournament. My short game is helping me a lot and that would be an important factor this week," said Gaurav.

The DLF Golf & Country Club looked in great shape on the eve of the 16th leg of the Asian PGA Tour. The greens touched a speed of 11 on the stimpmeter and were a bit firm and true. The rough should not pose much danger to the players. Most of the pros felt that the key to this week would be the approach shots and how the ball is placed on the green.

"Given the speed of the greens, it would be inviting trouble if you put the ball above the hole. These greens are almost like the ones we are used to in the European Tour," said India's European PGA Tour star Jeev Milkha Singh.

A starting field of 112 will vie for the top cheque of $-33,200. 51 players from the Asian PGA Tour, 56 Indian pros and five amateurs will tee off at 6:45 am tomorrow.