Randhawa optimistic despite desert mishap

Indian star Jyoti Randhawa is hoping a desert safari mishap will not derail his winning ambitions at this week's US$2 million Commercialbank Qatar Masters starting at Doha Golf Club on Thursday.

Fresh from a superb sixth place finish in Abu Dhabi at the weekend, the former Asian Tour number one took time off on Monday to enjoy a safari romp but bruised his left forearm and ribs after falling off from a four-wheel bike.

Randhawa took the day off to rest his sore muscles and is optimistic of fully recovering to challenge the likes of defending champion Ernie Els, Vijay Singh, Darren Clarke and Thomas Bjorn in the Qatar Masters, jointly sanctioned by the Asian Tour and European Tour.

"This is a great week, a really good tournament with a strong field and I'm looking forward to it," said Randhawa today. "I was really happy with last week. The wind was blowing for three days and I was glad to shoot a good score in the last round (65) when the wind was up.

"Yesterday, I was trying to come off a sand dune and gassed it too soon and fell off. The x-ray showed everything was okay except for some bruised muscles. I didn't practice today to give it a rest and I should be okay."

All the Asian Tour's leading lights will also be gunning for glory in Qatar including last season's Asian Tour number one Thaworn Wiratchant, two-time Asian number one Thongchai Jaidee and China's Zhang Lian-wei.

Randhawa said rising playing standards on the Asian Tour is clearly reflected with more Asian players featuring regularly on leaderboards worldwide. Last week, Thongchai and Zhang finished tied 13th in Abu Dhabi, a European Tour-only event, and Randhawa is confident one of the Asians can storm to victory in Doha.

"Asian golf has come of age. In the last 10 years, players have become good and we are getting more players in the top-10s, which was hardly the case previously. That's great for joint-sanctioned events. It'll be a matter of time before we have a major winner from Asia," said Randhawa, who finished tied 12th in last year's Qatar Masters.

"I believe if you're playing well, you can take on anybody in the world. I have to be playing well, putting well and as long as you play well, the field doesn't really matter. I think I've picked up my form. I made a few swing changes in recent months and it's starting to work and it's holding up under pressure.

"I want to win a European Tour event. I feel that I'm now ready to win a tournament anywhere in the world and I'll keep trying to achieve that. If you shoot for the sun, you sleep with the stars," added the Indian.

A player who is delighted to take his place amongst the stars of the game here was England's Chris Rodgers, winner of the Pakistan Open in Karachi on Sunday.

The 29-year-old Englishman is clearly enjoying his new-found success and had the pleasure of playing in a practice round with world number two, Singh this afternoon.

"To play in a practice round with Vijay here is fantastic. We've been talking all the way round and he's giving us tips and encouragement. It's pretty cool. I just got to try and learn from his experiences and take advantage of the opportunities that I have been given," said Rodgers, who moved up to fourth place on the UBS Order of Merit following his win.

"It's life-changing. It's just a thrill to win in Pakistan. I didn't even pack the right clothes for this week. I won the Tour school earlier this month and then won the first event of the year and all of the sudden, you get all these exemptions into big tournaments. It's fantastic, it's a dream come true."