VOLUME 4 | ISSUE 1 MAY 2019 `150 THINK YOUNG | PLAY HARD PUBLISHED BY SLICE PROOF SWING TONY FINAU TAKE THE FLAGSTICK OUT! HOT LIST GOLF BALLS TIGER’S SPECIAL HERO TRIUMPH INDIAN GREATEST COMEBACK STORY OPEN Exclusive Official Media Partner RNI NO. HARENG/2016/66983 NO. RNI Cover.indd 1 4/23/2019 2:17:43 PM Roush AD.indd 5 4/23/2019 4:43:16 PM Mercedes DS.indd All Pages 4/23/2019 4:45:21 PM Mercedes DS.indd All Pages 4/23/2019 4:45:21 PM how to play. what to play. where to play. Contents 05/19 l ArgentinA l AustrAliA l Chile l ChinA l CzeCh republiC l FinlAnd l FrAnCe l hong Kong l IndIa l indonesiA l irelAnd l KoreA l MAlAysiA l MexiCo l Middle eAst l portugAl l russiA l south AFriCA l spAin l sweden l tAiwAn l thAilAnd l usA 30 46 India Digest Newsmakers 70 18 Ajeetesh Sandhu second in Bangladesh 20 Strong Show By Indians At Qatar Senior Open 50 Chinese Golf On The Rise And Yes Don’t Forget The 22 Celebration of Women’s Golf Day on June 4 Coconuts 54 Els names Choi, 24 Indian Juniors Bring Immelman, Weir as Laurels in Thailand captain’s assistants for 2019 Presidents Cup 26 Club Round-Up Updates from courses across India Features 28 Business Of Golf Industry Updates 56 Spieth’s Nip-Spinner How to get up and down the spicy way. 30 Tournament Report 82 Take the Flagstick Out! Hero Indian Open 2019 by jordan spieth Play Your Best We tested it: Here’s why putting with the pin in 60 Leadbetter’s Laser Irons 75 One Golfer, Three Drives hurts more than it helps. Corporate Digest Make greens in regulation Add some variety to by tom mase, ph.d. 36 MercedesTrophy a regular thing. your game off the tee. by david leadbetter by nelly korda 42 Lifestyle 84 Hot List: Golf Balls We evaluated 65 entries 100 18 Holes 64 Thinking Big swing sequence across three categories. Prithvi Reddy, CEO, PGA of America CEO 78 Keith Mitchell These are the best balls Vooty Golf County Seth Waugh on golf, Giving new meaning at every price. business, new ideas to the term power fade by mike stachura 44 Asian Tour and the NJA Rule. and e. michael johnson Scott Hend Continues To with guy yocom 80 Tee to Green Lead International Success Master every lie 88 The View from Pebble 70 Slice-Proof Swing and hit better chips. A loop with a boyhood hero. Here’s my new move by butch harmon by jim nantz and how it can help you. by tony finau 81 The Leading Edge 89 Undercover Tour Pro cover story Flush your fairway woods. Economics 101 46 Tiger of the Masters, by michael breed for hiring club caddies. completes 15 major titles with max adler 10 golf digest india | may 2019 Cover photograph courtesy European Tour Toro AD.indd 11 4/23/2019 4:46:43 PM Editor’sDear Golfers, Letter he Hero Indian Open came down GOLF DIGEST USA EDITORIAL to a nail-biting finish and the DLF ChAirMAn & eDitor-in-ChieF Jerry Tarde course justified its nickname “Beast exeCutive eDitor Mike O’Malley of the East” as perhaps for the first CreAtive DireCtor Ken DeLago time in the history of the European MAnAGinG eDitor Alan P. Pittman TTour, the eventual winner and 4th place finisher Deputy eDitor Max Adler both had quadruple-bogey 8’s during the final round!! Can anyone remember the last time that ARTICLES eDitoriAl DevelopMent DireCtor happened on a professional tour? Craig Bestrom The big event every April is the annual India Golf senior eDitor Ron Kaspriske senior writers Bureau & Turf Expo, now in its 8th Annual Edition. This Jaime Diaz, Dave Kindred, Tim Rosaforte, two-day conference and Expo brings national Ron Sirak, Guy Yocom golf bodies and around 60 golf clubs onto one AssoCiAte eDitor Stephen Hennessey platform to exchange ideas and chalk out the Write to me at [email protected] AssistAnt eDitor Brittany Romano future path for growing the game in India. The or on Twitter @RishiNarain_ eDitor-At-lArGe Nick Seitz writer-At-lArGe Dan Jenkins show addresses various facets of golf and how it ContributinG eDitors Dave Anderson, can contribute to the country’s economy – Golf Tourism that is a multi-billion dollar global Peter Andrews, Tom Callahan, Bob Carney, business; adding value to real – estate projects; catalysing high-quality urban development; Marcia Chambers, David Fay, John Feinstein, attracting investments in plants and offices by enhancing lifestyles of senior executives; Peter Finch, Thomas L. Friedman, improving air quality and environment; replenishing the water table through rain-water Lisa Furlong, Matthew M. Ginella, John Huggan, Dean Knuth, David Owen, harvesting and usage of sewage treated water and of course improvement of health of those Steve Rushin, Dave Shedloski, who play the game. Golf needs to be seen as an important business generator and not just Roger Schiffman, Geoff Shackelford an old man’s pass time. The show hopes to change the image of the sport in the eyes of the public and authorities. You can read all about it in the next issue of the magazine. INSTRUCTION senior eDitor Peter Morrice The warm weather is here so time to travel to our hill station courses as well as cooler senior writer Matthew Rudy foreign locales. We will bring you information on those also over the course of the summer. plAyinG eDitors / pGA tour Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Tom Watson, However longer days means you can get in 9 holes or some range time before or after Rickie Fowler, Justin Leonard, Phil Mickelson, working hours, so it’s a perfect time to drop that handicap incorporating tips from our Nick Price, Jordan Spieth, David Toms swing gurus. plAyinG eDitors / lpGA tour Paula Creamer Happy Golfing! teAChinG proFessionAls Rob Akins, Todd Anderson, Chuck Cook, Sean Foley, Hank Haney, Butch Harmon, Hank Johnson, David Leadbetter, Jack Lumpkin, Rishi Narain Jim McLean, Tom Ness, Renee Powell, Dean Reinmuth, Randy Smith, Rick Smith, Dave Stockton, Josh Zander proFessionAl ADvisors Amy Alcott, Dr. Bill Mallon, Gary McCord, Randy Myers, TEAM GOLF DIGEST INDIA Judy Rankin, Lucius Riccio, Ph.D., Dr. Bob Rotella, Ben Shear, Ralph Simpson, GOLF DIGEST INTERNATIONAL Editor & Publisher Frank Thomas, Stan Utley Rishi Narain EDITIONS AND EDITORS-IN-CHIEF GD ArGentinA Hernán SimÓ, Jorge R. Arias EQUIPMENT Sr. Content Executive Sales & Marketing AustrAliAn GD Brad Clifton Amit Pandey Nikhil Narain, +91-9999990364 GD Chile Rodrigo Soto senior eDitor Mike Stachura GD ChinA Echo Ma [email protected] [email protected] equipMent eDitor E. Michael Johnson GD CzeCh republiC Robin Drahonovsky AssistAnt eDitor Keely Levins GD FinlAnD Sami Markkanen Krishna Kant Dubey teChniCAl pAnel John Axe, Ph.D.; Art Director GD FrAnCe Henry Trouillet [email protected] Guneet Singh Oberoi GD honG KonG Echo Ma Martin Brouillette, Ph.D.; Thomas E. Lacy GD inDonesiA Irwan Hermawan Jr., Ph.D.; David Lee, Ph.D.; John McPhee, Subscription GD inDiA Rishi Narain Ph.D.; Dick Rugge; George Springer, Ph.D. Monika Chhabra, Gautam Chhabra GD irelAnD Linton Walsh [email protected] GD KoreA Eun Jeong “EJ” Sohn GOLF COURSES +91-9999868051 GD MAlAysiA Patrick Ho GD MexiCo Rafa Quiroz senior eDitor / ArChiteCture Ron Whitten GD MiDDle eAst Robbie Greenfield ContributinG eDitor Topsy Siderowf Published and Printed by Rishi Narain on behalf of Rishi Narain Golf GD portuGAl João Morais Leitão Management Private Limited and Printed at Thomson Press India GD russiA Fedor Gogolev GOLF DIGEST INTERNATIONAL GROUP Limited, 18-35 Mile Stone, Delhi-Mathura Road, Faridabad-121 GD south AFriCA Stuart McLean senior DireCtor, internAtionAl 007, Haryana and published from 501, Sushant Tower, Sector - 56, GD spAin Óscar Maqueda DevelopMent & strAteGy Gurgaon - 122101, Haryana. Phone Number - 0124-2841370, 1371, GD sweDen Oskar Åsgård 1372. Editor: Rishi Narain. Contains material reprinted by permission GD tAiwAn Jennifer Wei Angela Byun from Golf Digest® and Golf World®. Golf Digest India is a monthly GD thAilAnD Chumphol Na Takuathung ContributinG eDitor, internAtionAl publication of Rishi Narain Golf Management Private Limited. GD usA Jerry Tarde Ju Kuang Tan 12 golf digest india | may 2019 Editor page.indd 12 4/23/2019 7:44:26 PM EXTENDED HOURS OF GRATIFICATION Delhi Studio Mumbai Studio Service 7, Hubtown Sunmist, Plot No - 104, Sector 37 Solaris, Telli Galli, Pace City - 1 Andheri East, Mumbai Gurgaon, Haryana - 122001 Maharashtra - 400053 India, (+91) 9999 999 643 BBT AD.indd 13 4/23/2019 4:47:23 PM Our Contributors JACK NICKLAUS Regarded as the greatest player of all time Winner of a record 18 GRAND SLAMS TOM WATSON World’s #1 ranked professional golfer from 1978 to 1982 8-TIME Grand Slam Champion BUTCH HARMON Considered as the #1 rated golf instructor in the world DAVID LEADBETTER Best known as TIGER The most celebrated golf instructor in history WOODS’s coach Changed golf instruction for all future generations (1993-2004) from guesswork to science Golf Digest India is the exclusive official media partner to: Covers 27 countries, with approximately US$210 million in prize money 14 golf digest india | may 2019 Editor page.indd 14 4/23/2019 7:43:57 PM Hero AD.indd 15 4/23/2019 4:48:14 PM The Buzz What’s Trending # @GolfDigestIndia Tiger Woods fifth win at Augusta National set Twitter on fire with the biggest sports icons like Michael Jordan & others sharing their emotions with the world @golfdigest.india @golfdigest.india Masters Club Dinner We felt creative and Mr Pawan worked on an Indian Munjal, menu to be served MD HERO MOTO CORP at Augusta National LIMITED(L) WITH in future, who knows STEPHEN GALLAGHER when we might have an THE HERO INDIAN Indian winner there? OPEN 2019 WINNER @ JulianSuri1 TALKED ABOUT HIS ROUND AND HIS PREPARATIONS FOR THE FINALE AT HERO INDIAN OPEN @IndiaGolfDigest Seve Ballesteros, the Spaniard, won five majors (The Masters - ‘80, 83 and The Open - ‘79, 84, 88) in his lifetime and would have turned 62 on April 9 16 golf digest india | may 2019 Vooty AD.indd 17 4/23/2019 4:48:46 PM Newsmakers Newsmakers Kaul Wins His Maiden Pro Title GOOD TIMES 18-year-old Kshitij Naveed Kaul from Farid- PLAYER UPDATES abad tasted his maiden professional golf title, making him the third youngest winner on the PGTI Tour.