He has been wreaking havoc with his irons on the domestic stage, and the Mysore golfer can’t wait for a taste of the international fare on offer in the next few weeks.

“It’s literally like a dream come true,” he gushes.

With a title and a second place out of the three events he’s played on the PGTI’s calendar, and leading the field going into the last day of the Chemtech Solaris Open, it’s no wonder Ganapathy feels he’s in the “form of his life.” And that gives him added confidence heading into the coming month.

“I realised you had to be on the top of your game week in week out if travelling around the Asian Tour has to be made financially viable. So I’d stayed away from qualifying for this season because I wanted to work on my game and hone it here at home. That’s paying off. And with these events coming here, there is nothing more I can ask for in terms of the quality of play I get at home,” he says.

And no prizes for guessing, Ganapathy says it’s Ernie Els he’s most looking forward to see in the flesh when the sport’s elite descend on the city. “It’s amazing the way he marries so much off-court responsibility with a great show on the course,” he says of the South African.

So what would he give for playing in the same group as the world number 5? “Oh, that would be just brilliant!” he laughs. “I would enjoy myself, though I don’t think I would be nervous. When you’re playing with somebody you know, you play without pressure.”

His first domestic title finally being notched up at the Global Green Open in Bangalore in December last year, the 28-year-old says he’s much more relaxed. “I don’t have to think about when the close calls will translate into a win, so that makes me freer in how I approach a situation where I’m close to a win,” he says.