Singapore: From DLF to DGC to Serapong, it’s the same sorry tale for Indian golf. As has been the norm in recent years, Indian golfers arrive at big competitions with high expectations, but by the time Day 2 concludes, only a few find themselves on the right side of the cut line. Status quo prevailed at the Singapore Open too, with only three out of 11 Indians progressing to the money rounds.
Among them, the familiar figure of Gaganjeet Bhullar stood apart. The Asian Tour veteran with 11 wins under his belt was tied third with Japan’s Tomohiro Ishizaka, both shooting 3-under on the par-71 course for a cumulative tally of 7-under. Korea’s Jeongwoo Ham went from joint lead to a solo lead while Thailand’s Jazz Janewattananond (10-under) jumped 11 places to second spot (8-under).
Besides Bhullar, the other Indians to make the cut in the $2 million International Series event are Pukhraj Singh Gill (T-38) and Karandeep Kochhar (T-43). Rest, including the seasoned SSP Chawrasia, Rashid Khan, Shiv Kapur and Ajeetesh Sandhu couldn’t make it to the weekend with the cut falling at 1-over.
Chawrasia, despite finishing T-120 and Kapur with a T-95, refrained from blaming the course or the conditions. “The course is perfect; just that my short game wasn’t up to the scratch,” Chawrasia said. Ditto for Kapur — “My putter stayed cold.”
The below-par show in Singapore shouldn’t come as a surprise though. The 2026 Hero Indian Open (HIO) saw only three out of 30 Indians make the cut with a T-43 being the best Indian finish. The DP World India Championships at DGC had only five out of 26 Indians progressing (best finish T-32). The 2025 HIO had 12 out of 30 Indians making the cut, while in 2024, only 8 out of 30 made it to the weekend action. Barring Veer Ahlawat’s T-2 in 2024, no Indian has finished in the top 10 at the national open in the recent past.
The trend is especially disturbing if one considers the quality India produced 30 years back. After the trinity of Jeev, Jyoti Randhawa and Arjun Atwal walked into the sunset came the likes of Chawrasia and Kapur, who were followed by Bhullar and Anirban Lahiri. Then came the enviable supply line of Shubhankar Sharma, Veer Ahlawat, Manu Gandas, Viraj Madappa, Yuvraj Sandhu, Honey Baisoya, Karandeep Kochhar, among others but barring Shubhankar, none could really kick on. A generation that promised the world just couldn’t keep up with the times.
“It’s surprising,” said Bhullar. “All these boys had the potential to win internationally, but none could really do justice to their promise. Some of them got injured at the wrong time, but it’s fair to say that our boys got complacent.”
“I think it’s got to do with belief. You have to enter each competition believing you can win. You can’t limit your ambition to domestic or Asian Tour. Go out and conquer the world,” Jeev added.
Belief alone is unlikely to do much. “There’s lack of hunger. There’s more money on PGTI than ever before, which is great, but it has also made our players very comfortable. We also need more public courses and driving ranges, but nothing really is an excuse for this slump,” said Bhullar, the last Indian to win on the European Tour (2018) as well as the Asian Tour (2023).
Chawrasia agreed. “I was never satisfied doing well at home, and so I strived to play in Asia or Europe, and maybe on the PGA. Our boys should aspire to win Majors. It’s not easy to survive there, but you got to grit it out,” the six-time Asian Tour winner said.
