Off the top of my head, I can’t remember a single extraordinary shot hit by Padraig Harrington: at least on the four or so occasions that I’ve had the opportunity to trail him from the sidelines of a golf course. Or, for that matter, on any of the countless times I’ve followed his play on the golf course. Obviously, by no means is that a barometer of the three-times Major champion’s golfing abilities, but rather a testament of his particular brand of play that clearly prioritises strategy and smart play over bravado.

And then there’s the sheer grit that the man possesses: one stroke back on the final hole of last year’s Honda Classic on the PGA Tour, Paddy (as he’s known on tour) willed in an 18-footer for birdie to give himself a chance to get into a playoff. He followed that up by sticking a short iron 180 ft over water on the second hole of sudden death to 5 ft. The birdie got Paddy his first win in seven years (on the European or PGA Tours) and re-invigorated a flagging career.

What sets Paddy apart in the league of illustrious Irish golfers—Rory Mc Ilroy, Paul Mc Ginley, Darren Clarke, Graeme McDowell—who’ve made a mark on the professional game, is his unremitting regard for numbers. And it all makes sense when you consider that, unlike many of his contemporaries who did not finish their education to focus on golf, Paddy is a qualified chartered accountant.

Amateurs often do not pay too much attention to numbers beyond immediate yardage on a golf course and, if you ask me, that’s the biggest learning that those of you who will be in the gallery following Paddy at the Hero Indian Open 2016 (March 17-20 at the Delhi Golf Club) can wean from his play. Paddy carries a course guide with exhaustive notes: different yardages from tee to green; from the front and back of the greens; different approach angles; wind speeds at different times of the day, et al. And whenever in doubt, he’ll actually pace out the exact yardage himself. If golf is a game of precision—as many of us, including your columnist, fail to appreciate—then watching Paddy at work is a lesson in its exactness.

About Paddy’s chances at the DGC, though, I’m not so sure. Although his biggest triumphs—at the Open Championships in 2007 and 2008—have come on links-style courses, which he feels completely at home on, he has won a major on a modern layout (2008 PGA Championship, Oakland Hills). And he’s won in Asia too—the Indonesian Open in 2014 was his maiden triumph on a track as far removed from his beloved links as possible. Still, navigating the treacherous Delhi Golf Club, as many outstanding golfers from around the world have discovered to their chagrin, is as much about course knowledge as it is about smart play. Just the fact that it’s Paddy’s first time on the DGC stacks the odds against him. For the sake of his future participation and enthusiasm to return, I’m going to hope that the venerable layout doesn’t maul him. Be gentle DGC, it’s his first time.

Attention though will be squarely on the Indian juggernaut, which with world number 49 Anirban Lahiri at the helm, looks stronger than ever. Lahiri will be defending his title and remains the undisputed favourite to retain the national crown and will have the likes of Gaganjeet Bhullar, SSP Chawrasia, Rashid Khan, Jeev Milkha Singh, Arjun Atwal, Shiv Kapur, Rahil Gangjee, Himmat Rai and Chiragh Kumar, among others, for company.

For sheer vintage, do spare time to follow Atwal; the gorgeously smooth swinger from Kolkata cuts an elegant figure, which is fast becoming an anachronism in modern golf replete with robust (but not pretty!) golf swings. And who can rule out JM Singh? The veteran with his quirky action recently found something watching old videos of his swing. “I struggled the last three years. I decided to look at some things and went back to when I was playing my best golf in 2006 and 2008 (when he was Asian Tour number one), looked at a lot of videos, the way I swung the club. I’m trying to go back to that and remember that, and I’m feeling better with my swing,” said the Chandigarh golfer a few weeks back. As sentimental favourites go, no one can hold a candle to Singh.

Other players who’ve shown form leading up to the event include Rahil Gangjee—who finished in the top 10 at the Maybank Malaysian Open last week—and Shubhankar Sharma who set the cumulative four-day scoring record at Bengaluru’s Eagleton Golf Club. Sharma amassed a fantastic 24-under-264 at the PGTI Player’s Championship last week beating Sri Lankan Mithun Perera’s mark of 22-under-266 set in 2014. I’m going to go out on a limb and put my money on this precocious teenager: in his rookie year on the Asian Tour, Sharma has shown signs of coming of age: the win at Bengaluru was preceded by a career-best third-place finish in Dhaka. And for those who may have forgotten, Sharma remains the youngest winner ever on the PGTI—he took his maiden title as a 17-year-old in Kochi two years back. Sharma marries a gorgeous swing with a quiet, almost diminutive demeanour, and is easy to miss. But he’s a giant killer; and nothing will thrust the youngster into the big league like winning his national open. It’s more than that now, co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour and European Tour for the second straight year, the Hero Indian Open 2016 will carry an enhanced prize purse of $1.66 million. Don’t miss it.
A golfer, Meraj Shah also writes about the game