From Bangkok to Beijing, Scotland to Shanghai and then to the pinnacle of golf, the Augusta Masters, India's master putter Jeev Milkha Singh has made it.
He says he will be at the airport lounge at 10am, and he is. A golfer does not miss his tee time, he jokes. Said in jest, it is also the truth in life. It is hard to miss the elegant Jeev Milkha Singh in the lounge.
Accompanied by childhood friend Kudrat, with whom he plans to set up home soon, and armed with a set of golf clubs as his oars, a dozen SIM cards to boot plus even more credit cards and a long list of flight bookings, this is the Christopher Columbus of Indian golf who is all ready to ... tee off to lands and notch up achievements few Indian golfers have dreamt of.
He knows airline schedules like the back of his hand; has learnt how to triumph over jet lag; loves a mix of Japanese and Indian food and swears by the Bollywood film, Lage Raho Munnabhai. His curse when he misses a short putt is invariably in Hindi.
During his rounds, he chomps on onigiri ? a Japanese rice dish with fillings of pickled plum and/or grilled salted salmon and the rice ball is bound by dried nori (seaweed). In the evening, he prefers rice and lentils or rice and a dal or an occasional bowl of butter chicken. And then he relaxes with a good 'masala' Hindi film.
Few athletes come as global as he does. Welcome to the world of Jeev Milkha Singh.
He guffaws when told that he probably holds the world record for hoarding the most frequent flyer mileage points in the golfing world. "There are times when it takes me a minute or two in the morning to realise which part of the world I am in," confesses Jeev on his globetrotting ways. In the last two years, he has played 78 tournaments.
His father, Milkha Singh, a multi-gold medallist in the Asian Games and dubbed the 'Flying Sikh', was an Olympic finalist, who despite breaking a world record finished fourth at the 1960 Rome Olympics.
"When it came to choosing a sport in his post-athletics life, he moved to golf,'' says Jeev of his celebrated father. "Not a day passes, when he does not tee off at the Chandigarh Golf Club."
Was Milkha Singh disappointed that his son chose golf over athletics? I ask. "Oh no,'' replies Jeev. "He only wanted me to play some game. My mother (Nirmal Kaur) played volleyball for India. So, I could have been in either sport, athletics or volleyball. I opted for athletics in school. I also have won some medals, but it was golf that caught my fancy."
The reason: "I knew I could play golf for the rest of my life, unlike most other sports."
Perhaps his father had a role to play in Jeev taking this decision. The senior Milkha, who went on to become an administrator in sports in Punjab, enjoyed a game of golf and the young Jeev would often accompany him to the course.
Curiosity gave way to interest and he soon began wiilding clubs. "Most of my early golf was played with a 9-iron and 5-iron and a putter. That made me invent and improvise shots," recalls Jeev.
Also, he had his Dad grilling him with a daily sermon on 'Hard work and discipline is what it takes to succeed'. "I must have heard that a million times," says Jeev.
The senior Milkha Singh, it was said in athletics circles, would train till he could walk no more and sometimes had to be carried off the field.
Jeev took to serious golf when he was around 12.
By his mid teens, he was a regular on the greens. "My golfing career took off in 1986. I was 14 and the youngest in the team when I represented India in the Eisenhower Cup," Jeev recalls.
As a member of the Indian junior team, he got to play abroad quite often.
It was on a trip to the US in the early 1990s that he caught the eye of Vince Jarrett, who was then the coach of Abilene Christian. Jeev was offered a scholarship which he gladly accepted.
In Texas, Jeev got his first real taste of big time golf in NCAA league.
In 1993, while still a sophomore, he stunned all by helping his team, Wildcats, win the team championship in its Division. He then went on to win the individual honours.
The long road to professional golf had taken shape. "Going to America really helped my game,'' he recalls. "It changed my attitude towards sport also," says Jeev.
After studying in the United States, Jeev did not think twice about turning professional. "I played golf in college and it was the most natural thing to do."
He was one of Asia's first stars when the Asian Tour took off in 1995.
"Those early days were fun." Jeev was winning. He was third in Order of Merit in Asia in 1995 and fifth in 1997. He won in Korea in 1994, twice within four weeks in the Philippines in 1995-96. He again won in Korea in 1996 and in the process set a record for a four-day total with 26-under aggregate. Then he had to wait for three years before he won in October 1999 at the Lexus International. "Winning seemed to easy, but it never was," says Jeev.
And then troubles began. Injuries, loss of form, self-doubts, swing problems and much else began to dog his game. In the meantime, those whom he had inspired were moving ahead. Arjun Atwal came, won and moved to Europe and finally America. Jyoti Randhawa entered the scene, won in India and went on to win in Japan, too. Harmeet Kahlon, Vijay Kumar, Rahil Gangjee and Shiv Kapur ... all seemed to be making it big on the grass.
Was the path-breaker feeling left out?
During a conversation on one of those winless days, he had remarked, "I was disappointed ... not because others were winning but because I was not ...'' At the 2004 Asia-Okinawa Open, coming into the final round, Jeev led by a whopping four shots. "I had worked so hard on my game in 2004, and could feel my game coming back. I had a great second round, where I set a course record of nine-under 62," he said.
And then? "I can't believe what happened on that Sunday at the 10th hole.
I went against my own judgment. I was planning a three-wood off the tee, which is the way I had played previously. My caddie advised me to use a driver instead. I hesitated and then pulled out the driver. And what did I do? Put the ball out of bounds! But I cannot blame my caddie. It was my call and a mistake ...," Jeev told me, some time after the tournament.
Once again, doubts on his ability crept in. But with the help of his childhood friends, Amrinder Singh and Digraj Singh, Jeev managed to turn the corner.
"Amrinder [helped me get] my confidence back," says Jeev, "And Digraj Singh helped shore up my mental side. He gave me a book, Power of the Sub-Conscious Mind. It has become my favourite book."
But he was still not winning. Sponsors slowly began to desert him.
"Sponsors need results, too," says Jeev realistically. But he was popular in Japan and when one player asked him why he had no sponsor, Jeev simply smiled. The Japanese player, Mitsuhiro Tateyama, then introduced Jeev to Koso Okazaki, manufacturer of irons under the brand name GMA. Okazaki got along with the affable Jeev from the very first meeting and the Indian became the third player in his sponsorship stable and the only non-Japanese. That was about two years ago.
The burden of not winning continued.
Then in Beijing on a Sunday afternoon in April 2006, luck turned. On the 18th, he tapped in a two-foot birdie and with it a huge boulder on his shoulder appeared to slip off.
I was with him that day, and his first words were, "Finally, relief. Relief more than joy, for the monkey is finally off my back."
Through the back nine on the final day at the Hong Hua International Golf Club, he kept his mind clear and played golf as if it was just another day.
His Japanese caddie Ippei and he exchanged glances every now and then ? but then the glances could have been unsaid words about which club to use, what shot to play and how.
"I did not want to get ahead of myself. I knew I had a chance ..."
On the Sunday morning, Jeev says, "Before going out (on the final day), I told myself that I was not going to put any pressure on myself. I said, 'If I win, that's great, but if I don't, it is still fine because I put myself in a position to do so. And as long as I keep getting into positions like that, I will eventually win."
He likes to call that strategy 'reverse psychology'. And it worked.
"Only when I was standing on the 18th tee, did Ippei and I look at each other and tell each other we could win this one. I was two clear and then I saw (Gonzalo) Fernandez-Castano bogey the final hole. He had a chance to go to 11-under from 10-under, but instead he came to nine-under. Now I could win even with a bogey on the final hole. I decided to play safe. I went off the fairway, but then aimed for the side of the green instead of going over water and the pin. I knew I could two-putt or three-putt and win."
He safely three-putted and raised his arms and a few minutes later embraced his caddie to celebrate their first win together. "It was an amazing feeling.''
A little later, he had the Yellow Jacket (given to the winner of the China Open) and a lovely crystal trophy. He also had a two-year exemption to the European Tour and a cheque of $300,000, the second biggest cheque ever for any Indian golfer ? the largest being $330,000 for Arjun Atwal, when he tied second at BellSouth Classic in the US last year.
Once the monkey was off his back with the win in Beijing, Jeev was on a song. A string of top-10 finishes followed. He went for the Volvo Masters of Europe, and arrived at the famed Valderrama for the first time never having played the course before. And by the time the Sunday was over, he had the trophy stashed in his luggage as he set off for another venue.
Recently, the Christopher Columbus of Indian golf, added one more first to his long list. He teed up at the Masters and for the first nine he led the field. At the end of the first day, he was ahead of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. And on the fourth day, he was dreaming of a top-15 to ensure a berth for 2008. Alas a quadruple bogey on the first dashed those hopes and he ended 37th.
"It was disappointing, but I am happy with the way I conducted myself with disciplined golf at the Augusta," he says. The merry-go-round that the world of golf is has started again. Jeev is back criss-crossing airports, collecting frequent flyer miles, fat cheques and world ranking points. And he is also carrying a big smile, one that suggests that the man has seen it all. Till now. Tomorrow is another day. And the greens will be green.
