11 Indians Eye Open Spots at Singapore Open on Asian Tour

The 57th edition of Singapore's National Open is part of The International Series and will carry a prize purse of USD 2 million.

Something that the Indian contingent will eye dearly is that this year's Singapore Open will pave the way for qualification to the 154th Open this July, wherein the leading two players, not otherwise exempt, will be rewarded with spots in the game's oldest Major.

Kochhar, who has been in scintillating form over the past few months, is one of the headlining acts this week. Joining him will be other Indian heavyweights such as 11-time Asian Tour winner Bhullar; Chawrasia, with 6 Asian Tour titles; Jeev Milkha Singh, who has twice won the Asian Tour Order of Merit and has 6 Asian Tour wins; and Shiv Kapur, also a 3-time Asian Tour winner.

Former winners Ajeetesh Sandhu and Rashid Khan will be teeing up at the Singapore Open, as will the young brigade from India comprising Pukhraj Singh Gill, Sachin Baisoya, Shaurya Bhattacharya, and Shubham Jaglan.

The Singapore Open was last played at Sentosa Golf Club in 2022, when Thailand's Sadom Kaewkanjana beat Tom Kim from Korea.

Apart from Sadom, the field this year also features a stellar global lineup that includes LIV Golf stars Lucas Herbert of Australia, Josele Ballester and Luis Masaveu from Spain, Americans Peter Uihlein, Caleb Surratt, plus Sweden's Bjorn Hellgren.

Travis Smyth, who claimed the International Series Japan to take the lead on the Asian Tour Order of Merit (OOM) and The International Series Rankings, is back in action, as well as reigning Merit champion Kazuki Higa from Japan.

Former OOM winners John Catlin, Andy Ogletree, and Sihwan Kim from the United States have also entered, as well as Thailand's Jazz Janewattananond.

Kochhar, who has been in close contention twice already this year, finishing 4th at the Philippine Golf Championship and 5th at the International Series Japan, will be looking to capitalise on his rich vein of form. Speaking ahead of the tournament, he said, "This is one tournament I look forward to, especially just in terms of the golf course. I think it's an amazing golf course and I love playing here. Hopefully, I can play well.

Talking about the course and conditions, the 26-year-old said, "I think it's a great track. I think it's one of the best tracks we play all year, especially in Asia. think it's the best course in Asia. Obviously, it's a tough track. It's a long golf course. It's on the longer side for sure. But the conditions are great. I think it's going to be a hot, hot week. It's like we're in an oven this week, so it's quite warm. So I think rest and recovery will be quite vital this week. Overall, very happy; think we'll be very happy when we come back to Sentosa. The conditions are amazing, and I'm looking forward to the rest of the week."

When asked about what he liked about the Sentosa Golf Club course, Kochhar said, "I think the conditions are really pure. Think this is probably the best manicured course we play all year. So I think that's amazing. We do play a lot of good golf courses when we play on the Asian Tour, but I think this just sits above the rest of them."

Meanwhile, Travis Smyth will tee off in the Singapore Open on Thursday, high on confidence - currently leading the rankings on three of the world's main Tours - but low on energy after a long flight from LIV Golf Mexico.

The Australian is the man of the hour, having won the Series opener, International Series Japan, two weeks ago, to lead both the Asian Tour Order of Merit and the International Rankings.

In what possibly is a first, he is also sitting atop the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia and Japan Golf Tour rankings - thanks in a big way to winning the joint-sanctioned ISPS Handa Japan-Australasia Championship last month. It was the penultimate of the 2025/26 season on the former circuit and helped him win the Order of Merit, while it was the season-opening event on the latter.

Smyth fulfilled his dream of returning to play on the LIV Golf League when he was invited to compete in their event in Mexico last week, but had to make a mad dash to get there and then rush back here in time to play at Sentosa Golf Club this week.

He explained, "So, I was on a 5 am flight from Mexico City, which was delayed. We landed in San Francisco, and everything was delayed. That flight ended up getting cancelled. I ended up waiting, I don't know what, 12 hours at the airport. I was sleeping on the floor of the lounge for about five hours, and then flew here and arrived this morning, 7 am."

Asked how he is feeling at today's press conference, he said with a smirk: "Feel great."

Despite the fatigue, he will start as one of the favourites, helped by living off the adrenaline of his win two weeks ago, which was his second victory on the Asian Tour and first on The International Series.

The 31-year-old will start at 12.13 pm on Thursday on the first hole with Hellgren and Hong Kong number one Taichi Kho, while Kochhar has an early start at 8:15 am from the 10th tee with Thailand's Ekpharit Wu and Charles Porter of the USA.

- IANS