He’s the golfer who made history by becoming his country’s first ever European Tour member before winning four times

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Golf is very much a global game in the modern era but when it comes to paving the way for others, there’s a select few who deserve a mention.

We’ve seen players from all corners of the globe over the years influence youngsters and new generations of golfers.

The likes of Vijay Singh from Fiji, Angel Cabrera from Argentina and in the modern game, Hideki Matsuyama of Japan, have all had a huge influence on the game.

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Now, especially with the emergence of LIV Golf and the continued growth of the DP World Tour, we are seeing an even bigger footprint in the Asian market and in particular, India.

However, when it comes to Indian golf and the trailblazers who paved the way, we needn’t look much further than Jeev Milkha Singh.

How Jeev Milkha Singh won the Scottish Open to pave the way for Indian golfers

We have seen some fine players from everywhere over the years but when it comes to Jeev Milkha Singh, he is very much one of the main men when it comes to golfers from his nation.

India hasn’t always been a hotbed of talent for golf but when Singh managed to secure a European Tour card in the 2000s, things changed.

Furthermore, Singh’s influence did not stop there by just being a member of the tour.

Instead, Singh proved to every young aspiring Indian golfer that it is possible to grow up in that country and play and win at the highest level of the sport.

Singh won four times on the European Tour, culminating in a win at the Scottish Open in 2012 which saw him become India’s most successful ever golfer.

That win got him into The Open the week after, putting his name out there on the major stage for all of his fellow countrymen to see.

While the Indian flag is flown proudly in the modern game by Anirban Lahiri, it is very much Singh who blazed the path and shifted the golf landscape in India.

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The first Indian golfer to win on the PGA Tour

While Jeev Milkha Singh has the records when it comes to the European Tour, there is one thing he didn’t do and that is win on the PGA Tour.

Instead, that honour belongs to another legend of Indian golf, Arjun Atwal.

Back in 2010, Atwal became the first Indian golfer to win on the PGA Tour when he bagged the Wyndham Championship.

Alongside Singh, Atwal is widely regarded as one of the two most influential Indian golfers of all time.

As the sport continues to grow though, we can expect more players to emerge from a country of over one billion people and one day, we might just see that first major winner too.