Rashid Khan
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Rashid's big breakthrough
Rohit Bhardwaj The Times of India Nov 17 2014
Mumbai:
Delhi boy Rashid Khan, who has showed immense promise in home conditions, in Nov 2014 proved that he has come of age by clinching his first overseas victory in Thailand.
Rashid won the $750,000 Chiangmai Golf Classic by one stroke, surpassing fellow Indian Jyoti Randhawa and local lad Thanyakon Khrongpha at Bangkok's Alpine Golf Resort. This was also Rashid's second Asian Tour title, which propelled him to the eighth place from last week's 22nd spot in the continental Order of Merit. Rashid won his first Asian Tour trophy at the SAIL-SBI Open this February in a playoff against Bangladesh's Siddikur Rehman.
Rashid became the second golfer after India's highest-ranked pro Anirban Lahiri to get a breakthrough win this year.Anirban clinched his first title on foreign turf in April 2014.
Rashid began his golfing journey at the age of nine as a caddie at the Delhi Golf Club with equipment borrowed from his uncle Mohd Maqbool Khan. But it was in 1999 that his enrolment for DGC's Junior Golf Development program changed his fate. In 2006, Rashid won Indian Golf Union's (IGU) All India Juniors after which there was no looking back. In fact, it was after his silver-medal winning effort at the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games that prompted him to turn pro. And it didn't take much time for him to clinch his first pro title the very next year, at the Surya Nepal Masters.
But he was unable to win a single title competing against Asia's best and even lost to compatriots -Anirban Lahiri and S Chikkarangappa -in playoffs for the SAIL-SBI Open and CG Open respectively last year.
