As a personality, Indias Olympic medal hopeful in golf Shiv Shankar Prasad Chawrasia is poles apart from the man who won golfs last Olympic gold medal in St Louis 1904, a Canadian called George Lyon. Lyon only picked up the sport at the age of 38, and took the trip from his native Toronto to St Louis almost as an afterthought. Chawrasia, 38 today, has been pursuing golf with single-minded determination since he was seven.Having devoted so much of his energy to golf, Chawrasia has never followed other sports - but he does pursue airgun shooting as a hobby - and is yet to decide which other sportspersons he would want to meet and chat with in Rio. Lyons rich multisport story would have amazed him, the man excelling at baseball, tennis, setting the Canadian pole vault record in 1876, also scoring an unbeaten double century in cricket at a Toronto club game. No matter who the golf gold medallist in Rio is, there is no chance he will be a multi-sport man.Should Chawrasia -- and India -- have something to celebrate in Rio, he wont be doing a Lyon. Any images captioned Chawrasia celebrates have the diminutive Indian golfer smiling shyly, either hugged by his caddie Marco or given a peck on the cheek by wife Simantini. In St Louis 112 years ago, Lyon was called upon to collect a silver sterling trophy worth $1500, and he chose to walk down to the ceremonial podium -- on his hands.Yet, Chawrasia has something in common with the man who was derided in St Louis for having an unorthodox swing akin to a coal heaver -- an uncanny knack of knocking off big names of the sport when least expected to.Its a trait that has seen him come this far from his humble beginnings in Kolkata.****Chawrasias father was employed by the Royal Calcutta Golf Club (RCGC) as a greenkeeper, and this gave his two sons an unusual advantage. Since we lived there on the course, nobody would object to us playing or throw us out, says Chawrasia. When I started playing, I didnt have any plan in mind. I must have been six or seven years at the time.As the years went by, young Chawrasia showed glimpses of ability, but the familys limited financial means always forced him to rethink his personal ambitions.I didnt have a golf set, nor did I have any financial support. We werent that well off that I could go off and start playing, says Chawrasia. There were people who came forward and offered help. They offered to finance my golf, or support me in other ways. I also used to caddy, and I usually did it only for two people, and I grew quite close to them.One of the early supporters of his was fellow-professional Indrajeet Bhalotia, who helps run the ProTouch Golf Academy in Kolkata. He had just turned pro in 1997, says Bhalotia. We noticed that he required some assistance, and so we used to sponsor his T-shirt and cap in those days.Armed with that confidence, Chawrasia shot off a letter to the PGA (the Patna Golf Association, in this instance) asking them to send him an invitation to their tournament.I made the cut in my very first tournament, says Chawrasia. So the journey from my start to this point was a very difficult and challenging one. But I told myself that this is just the start.His following two tournaments -- in the southern cities of Bengaluru and Chennai -- wouldnt go so well, and it invited a rebuke from his parents, as they were already investing a lot of time and money on a son, who had quit studies after Class 8.When I returned to Calcutta, my mother told me that it would be impossible for them to keep supporting me, and that I must try and make it in one shot, Chawrasia laughs today when he recalls those days. I also thought to myself that it was unfair to expect them to keep giving me chances. So I approached the people I used to caddy for. I told them that whatever I borrowed from them, I would pay back with the money I would earn.The next tournament was in Chandigarh, and Chawrasia missed the cut again, this time by just one shot. He would spend a sleepless night, thinking about how his family would respond to this latest setback, but then he had another tournament in nearby Kapurthala. I went into that event with the single aim of making the cut. Thoughts of winning never even entered my mind, says Chawrasia. I finished in the 20s. Then I went to Chandigarh for another event and I did well there too. So that was the start, and I just built up from there.Its an interesting fact about Chawrasia that all of his 14 title wins have come on Indian soil, since a breakthrough win at the 2001 Singhania Open -- he was able to beat Arjun Atwal, to whom he had narrowly lost the 1999 Indian Open, when it was hosted by the RCGC -- but these include the Indian Masters of 2008 and 2011, the Panasonic Open in 2014, and a heart-stopping victory of fellow-Olympian Anirban Lahiri at the Indian Open in 2016. Interestingly, Lahiri finished second in a reversal of positions from the 2015 event.Chawrasia has immense self-belief, says Bhalotia. What sets him apart from others is that he understood his limitations very early on. He never had a great length to his game, and thats why hes worked so hard on his short game. He is also able to evaluate very early on what he needs to do to conquer a particular kind of course. These were traits that led to him being nicknamed Chip-Putts-ia very early on among his peers.Another quality that makes Chawrasia a dangerous competitor is how he seems to not mind the challenges that going to a country and a course for the first time bring with them, paradoxical as it is with his lack of titles outside of India.This will be Chawrasias first time in Brazil, let alone at the Barra da Tijuca, where the golf competition will be held. The newness of the course or the depth of the field does not bother him. My first time outside the country was in Macau, he says. I remember I was alone there, wandering the streets, looking around and wondering what to order for food. But it wasnt that tough. I was able to survive there. If you travel by yourself day in and day out, theres no end to how many new things you can learn.Perhaps this openness of mind also makes him a foodie. Khana banana bilkul pasand nahin. Mere mein itna patience nahin hai. Lekin khaana khaana accha lagta hai (I dislike cooking, as I dont have the patience for it, but I like to eat), says Chawrasia of his fondness for all kinds of cuisine -- specially Thai, and lamb in particular.Chawrasia jets and jags around the world for all of his tournaments -- hes now got a three-year card for the European Tour, and first spoke to us while visiting Bengaluru to keep his word to his sponsors, in spite of having a tournament in Sweden for that week -- but has never forgotten those that supported him in his early days, or why he turned out to caddy for them.My sole ambition to caddy was to learn as much as I could about the game of golf. Kabhi aisa na ho ki maine caddy nahin kiya, mere ko experience nahin hai (I didnt want to regret that since I never caddied, I never got that experience of a course), says Chawrasia.It is this self-awareness that leads Chawrasia to believe he can do well in Rio. I am representing my country, so I want to bring back the gold, he says. Thats the target I am setting for myself, and sometimes when I sit quietly and think about the fact that I am going to represent my country at the Olympics, I feel a surge of confidence within.If he finds himself in that position, Lyons first successor after 112 years, may not do handstands, but he will always have one hell of a story to tell. Ashl... Williams Jersey . -- Anaheim Ducks defenceman Luca Sbisa will be out at least six weeks with a torn tendon in his right hand. Custom Wales Soccer Jersey . Halladay signed a one-day contract with the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday that allowed the veteran right-hander to retire as a member of team with which he broke into the majors and spent the bulk of his distinguished 16-year career. http://www... . I cant pinpoint a date, but I do remember a player from my youth. Brian Downing was with the Chicago White Sox at a time when I listened to every game I possibly could on the radio. 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