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'Now I have to find a coach and sponsor'

For Calcutta lad Arjun Atwal, who won the $300,000 Wills Indian Open golf championship at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club on Sunday, the main task now is to look for a good coach and a sponsor.

Arjun, who will be turning 26 next Saturday, is the youngest Calcuttan to have won one of the top three golf tournaments on the Asian PGA tour. He is also the third Indian to have won this tournament. Ali Sher won it twice before, and Feroze Ali won last year.

Earlier, he had won two invitational meets abroad and also the DCM Indian Open in 1995. In 1997, he missed out on his first Asian PGA tour championship by one stroke at Thailand while participating in the Lexus International.

Excerpts, from a conversation with Arup Chanda:

How does it feel to have made this breakthrough onto the international stage?

It feels great. I feel it was long overdue -- but at last, I have arrived.

Were you confident of your chances right from the outset?

No. Not at all, because I was not playing well. I was playing average or below average. But after I finished the second round, I was pretty sure of winning. By that point, I was not at all nervous. I was keeping my cool, and concentrating on the game.

Was it difficult for an Indian to win this one?

Yes. Right now, most professionals in India are very young, we lack the experience. The professionals who come from the US and other Asian countries have played a lot and are more mature. They know how to win tournaments. But the scene here is changing too, particularly after Ali Sher and Feroze Ali won tournaments in the Asian PGA tour over the last few years.

Why do you think Feroze Ali failed this year?

You cannot say he failed. No one plays the same way each week and hits the same shots. It was just unfortunate for him.

What are your future plans ?

My immediate task is to go to the US in May and look for a good coach. I am also looking for a sponsor. Till date I had to arrange for my own expenses.

Which tournaments do you plan to play in, in the near future?

In April I will participate in the major Japanese tournament, the US $1.2 million Kirin Cup. Winning this tournament automatically gets me an invitation for it. Then in May I hope to qualify for the PGA tour in the US and play there.

That means you will be up against some of the biggest names in golf, are you nervous at the prospect?

I am pretty confident about playing against the champions. I played along with Tiger Woods in the Jhonnie Walker Clasic in Thailand and that was a great experience.

You've played international golf before?

I played a bit while I was studying in the US, and won for my school and college. I won two invitational meets abroad. I have played in Dubai twice and a number of times in Thailand. I won the DCM Indian Open championship in 1995.

How did you get into this sport?

My father introduced me to it when I was only 14. At the age of 16 I went off to the US to study and kept playing there. Then in 1995 I came back to India and turned professional. Since then I have been playing in international tournaments.