A 63rd place finish on the PGTI Order of Merit meant a painful whisker-miss from a top-60 and a confirmed card for the 2009 season. But a grown-up 24 and a hard season old, Chakola was ready with a clean slate, and the first mark on it has been bright. With a week’s best four-under round on cloudy Friday at the Golden Greens resort in Gurgaon, Chakola sprinted past three-day leader Shiva Ram Shrestha to top the Q-School.

“It was a difficult transition to make,” Chakola told Sportline on Friday. “I went into professional life with too many expectations and once it didn’t go the way I thought it would, it just got worse and worse. “I’ve started well now, and have learnt lessons from my first year. Hopefully this will turn out to be a much better year.”

Following Chakola, though, are two names coming with totally different dreams. Shrestha, one of the few pros that Nepal has produced, dabbled on the tour last season too, but has a full card to showcase his country’s best this time. Anthony Paul Choat has a national legacy in the sport and the Australian came armed with a one-year visa to find his feet on the circuit.

“I had heard good things from my friends about golf in India. So I thought this was as good a place as any to make an honest, serious start. And I like what I have seen so far,” Choat said.

The only other foreign-nationals spot that was available was taken by American Shaquille Shane, who came here for a lark and made it through for the year.

Then there are youngsters with dreams in their eyes, amateurs Keshav Kapoor and Kapil Kumar. All of 17, Kapil said making it on the first go will give him confidence, even though he knows the path will be tough. “I might not start getting the best results in my first year or the second, but I’ll know what I’m up against and work on my game according to that,” he said.

Leaderboard