For Yuvraj, well begun is only half done
The 28-year-old has begun his domestic season with two wins on the trot and hopes to carry the momentum through the year
New Delhi: Yuvraj Sandhu couldn’t have asked for a better birthday present. The Chandigarh golfer, who turned 28 last week, has won back-to-back titles on Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI), first clinching the season-opening wire-to-wire win at the TATA Steel PGTI Players Championship at Tollygunge Club before winning Glade One presents Gujarat Open Golf Championship in Ahmedabad.
The perfect start has set him up nicely for what promises to be a gruelling domestic season -- there’s a competition every week on the PGTI tour -- as well as the Asian Tour for which he has retained his card.
“I want to compete as much as possible on both PGTI and Asian Tour this year. Last year was quite disappointing but I have identified the problem areas and am working on them,” Sandhu, who had two top-five finishes from five competitions on the PGTI last year, said.
Among the areas he has been working on are his equipment and physical fitness. Soon after the Tata Steel Tour Championship last December where he finished fourth, Sandhu returned to his base in Chandigarh and started working with his coach Gurbaaz Mann. “We had tried a few things with our equipment last year but that didn’t work in our favour. I wanted to get my club fittings right and develop a consistent ball flight. The results are beginning to show,” he said.
Sandhu has also been bulking up, a move that has added to his yardage. From not lifting weights during the season, Sandhu has gone for a heavy-weight-low-rep regimen during competitions. “The idea is to maintain and gain muscle throughout the season. I have been working a lot to get stronger and it has boosted my yardage,” he said. A certain Bryson DeChambeau did have a role to play in that mental shift.
The American superstar was the biggest draw at the International Series in Gurugram earlier this year, and Sandhu, who ended T-45 after four fog-hit rounds, was floored by the physical reserves and work ethic of the two-time Major winner. The last two days of the event saw shotgun starts with the field rushing through 27 rounds on the final day.
“DLF anyway is a very challenging course and to walk 27 holes is not easy. I was amazed at the work ethic of guys like Bryson and Joaquin Niemann who went about their job tirelessly,” said Sandhu. “While most of us would be completely spent, Bryson would just pick up his bag and hit the practice range. During fog delays, Bryson and Niemann would either do some mobility work or simply stretch in the locker room instead of sitting idle.”
The event, won by American Ollie Schniederjans, acted as an eye-opener for the 15 Indians in action, Sandhu said. “As the tournament progressed, the gulf between physically fit guys and the lesser ones widened. It was a lesson for all of us,” he said.
Another experience that Sandhu is keen to learn from is dealing with the loneliness on the tour. On his maiden stint on the Asian Tour, Sandhu struggled to live out of the suitcase for weeks on end. “It can get to you,” he said.
“It’s not easy being an international professional. You have 10-12 people on your team and you need to pay them. You are answerable to people who are invested in you. Then, the golf courses are quite diverse and acing them is not easy. One week you’re playing in gusts of 40kmph and next week you’re playing in wet conditions. All that pressure can weigh you down.”