Locals will have an advantage: Rashid
Rashid Khan, who clinched two titles in 2014, will be among the favourites as Bangladesh gets ready to host its first- ever Asian Tour event at the Kurmitola Golf Club in Dhaka from Wednesday.
The Bashundhara Bangladesh Open will see a strong Indian challenge as the field includes the seasoned Rahil Gangjee, Chiragh Kumar, Himmat Rai and Digvijay Singh, who is on a medical extension.
Besides, the field will also have youngsters such as Shubhankar Sharma, S. Chikkarangappa, Angad Cheema, Abhijit Chadha, Shankar Das, Manav Jaini, Abhinav Lohan and Om Prakash Chouhan vying for honours.
Rashid, however, tipped the local golfers including Bangladesh’s golfing superstar Siddikur, to do well on their home course.
“The locals have a lot of advantage playing here because of the local knowledge. It is the same when I play in Delhi,” the Delhi golfer said.
“This new event will help the local professional golfers. They need one good start through a tournament like this. It will help golf in Bangladesh.”
Rashid, who has changed his driver recently, said: “I changed my driver in Mauritius ( two weeks ago). It wasn’t working there but I’m feeling comfortable now. It is more of a problem with my game. Once I’m comfortable with my tee shots then I’ll be good.”
On his own preparations, he said, “I met my mental coach before coming here and I told her that there’s nothing wrong with my mental game. I’m just not finding enough fairways. I’m comfortable with my game now because I changed my driver. The key here is to find fairways.”
The field also includes seasoned Rahil Gangjee, Chiragh Kumar, Himmat Rai and Digvijay Singh