Golf: Viraj Madappa to become first Indian amateur to play in Porter Cup

New York: Viraj Madappa, currently ranked two on the Indian Golf Union Men’s order of merit will become the first Indian amateur to participate in the prestigious Porter Cup at Niagara Falls Country Club here from tomorrow. The four-day stroke play tournament will witness the world’s top amateurs from the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, India and France compete for the Cup. [caption id=“attachment_2368070” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational Image. Reuters[/caption] Annually, the event attracts the finest collegiate and mid-amateur players and through the years, it has played host to some of the most widely recognised and respected players in the game like Phil Mickelson, winner of 42 PGA tour events and former World number one David Duval. Madappa, who is also 47th amateur in the world currently, has earned a spot in Porter Cup on the basis of his World Amateur Golf Rankings. The 17-year-old Madappa, who hails from Kolkata and started playing golf at the age of 9, said, “It’s an honour to be invited for a tournament of this stature. Porter Cup will be one of the biggest events that I will have played in and it would be priceless to win it.” The 6-ft-2 inches tall golfer who finished 5th at the Junior Invitational at Sage Valley, USA in April this year added, “I have experience of playing in the USA but this will be my first time when I will be playing at Niagara Falls CC. I feel great about my game right now and I have practiced really hard for this event. “The only thing that I will have to quickly adjust to is the weather so that I don’t fall sick and can grab a practice round before I enter into the main tournament in front of 80-odd world class players.” The Porter Cup is a 72-hole, medal-play elite amateur golf tournament held annually at the Niagara Falls Country Club in Lewiston. It was first played in 1959 and over the years has hosted some of the biggest names in golf. Past champions include PGA Tour stars Phil Mickelson, David Duval, Scott Verplank and Ben Crenshaw. PTI