‘Fortune favours the brave’. The saying has been proved by the Sri Lankan golfer Anura Rohana in all the aspects. Rohana, a pro golfer since 2002 has been playing on PGTI ever since. Anura, who belongs to a humble background, had come into golf after his father had ingrained the interest in him. But by mere mastering the game or interests does not help the cause. It requires a lot of money and exposure. And he did not have either of them. Neither he had the money required to play the game, nor did Sri Lanka had any golf tournaments to give him the exposure. But that did not stop him from fulfilling his desires.
He approached the Sri Lankan Golf Union for help and they gladly agreed to help him. And next thing was search for a haven. And he decided to play in PGTI, perhaps the best decision of his life. He qualified to play in PGTI. And in 2002, he first played in PGTI and enjoyed considerable amount of success. And this process continued for next three years.
He attained substantial fame in the game. But the thing which was missing from his life was money. Because, the money he used to earn in PGTI, large part of it used to go to Sri Lankan Golf Union because of the term on which they agreed upon before. So, he decided to look for sponsors, but the move went in vain. He could not find a sponsor because of the ignorance of the people about golf in the country. So, finally in 2005, he borrowed a sum of 1 lakh from his close friend Sashikaran, thus bringing an end to three years long association between him and Lankan Golf Union.
That was a step which was filled with risk and could put his career in jeopardy. But then he chose not to get bothered by all these and went forward with it. He was brimming with confidence and had mighty self belief. “I knew how to make money in golf. I wanted money for myself. I had the belief in me that I would be able to pull it up,” said the 38-year-old-golfer, who earned approx Rs 23 lakh from both PGTI and Asian Tour.
And bingo, that was bang on target. He not only excelled after the move, but also repaid his debt in one year, which he cherishes as the best moment of his life. “I liked the feeling when I was returning the money to him. It was so surreal. I was actually repaying a sum of Rs 1 lakh, which is by no means a small amount. The incident brought a change in me and made me more focussed,” he added.
The pro-golfer, who is known as Kuttu amongst his close ones, grew up admiring Ernie Els. This prodigious son of Sri Lankan Golf does not even think of anything else apart from playing golf. He does not leave golf for a moment. “I never wanted to be anything else. Golf is all that I have known for my all life. I do not think of anything else. Even in my free time I practice my game and especially my short game,” he added. Anura is also a football fan and likes Argentina to the core.
Anura, who never had any major wins on the PGTI, feels that his best is still to come. The biggest win of his life till now is winning the Nepal Open in 2009. “The world has not my best yet. I have had many top ten 10 finishes, but have not won anything, apart the Nepal Open. I am happy with game with my game but I know I need play better than I have playing to win more titles. Mark my words. My best is coming soon.”
Anura, who is the No.1 ranked professional golfer in Sri Lanka, likes playing in India and calls it his second home. “The hospitality that has been extended out to me and other overseas players in India is very commendable. I do not feel like that I play in some other country. The crowd does not allow me to feel like that,” said the golfer.
The golfer, who had made a sizeable amount of fame coming from a different country, is really very commendable. His determination and hard work is an epitome and is a lesson for everyone. He has proved that “Where there is a will, there is a way.
By Samikshan Dutta Chaudhury
