Siddikur: ball boy becomes Bangladesh star

KUALA LUMPUR: When Siddikur defeated South Africa's Jbe Kruger in a nerve-wracking play-off to win last year's Brunei Open he became the first Bangladeshi to win an international golf tournament.

But the triumph for the former ball boy also gave hope to budding golfers in his impoverished cricket-mad homeland, and across South Asia, that they too could triumph at the highest levels of the game, no matter what the adversity.

The 26-year-old, full name Mohammad Siddikur Rahman (he told the Asian Tour to call him "Siddikur" -- "I prefer it that way"), is the most successful golfer ever from Bangladesh, courtesy of Brunei title.

His Asian Tour victory made front page headlines back home and "there is a big improvement in golf now in Bangladesh", he told AFP at the $6.1-million CIMB Asia Pacific Classic Malaysia, where he carded a competitive 68 Thursday.

"The standard in golf is getting better and better in Bangladesh. Now there are many national team players, juniors, boys, girls. Many good youngsters are coming up," said the softly spoken Siddikur.

Casting a rare spotlight on the little-known golf scene in Bangladesh, Siddikur, whose dream is to make it to the PGA Tour, said there are only five 18-hole courses in the whole country -- about one course for every 28 million people.

Or about 1.5 million people for every hole.

All the courses are controlled by the army and there are no private clubs, said Siddikur, who worked as a ball boy at Kurmitola Golf Club in the capital Dhaka to earn money to support his studies. He is now an honorary member.

The Dhaka-based Siddikur, who only turned professional a few years ago and ought to still have his best days ahead, dominated the amateur scene back home with five wins and claimed seven other titles abroad.

It is all a far cry from how he started out -- his first "club" was a seven-iron head stuck onto a piece of scrap metal.

The country's few golf courses were not traditionally open to the public because they are contained in military cantonments, but they are now being made available for everyone.

"This is a very good thing," said Siddikur, hoping that while he was the first Bangladeshi to make waves in golf, he will not be the last. (AFP)