The first Indian to compete on The European Tour continued to win at the highest level in 2012, claiming the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open en route to finishing 32nd in The Race to Dubai. A final round 67 at Castle Stuart left him tied at the top with Francesco Molinari, and he saw off the Italian at the first extra hole.

That came four years after his previous European Tour victory, in the Austrian Golf Open in 2008, the season he finished a career-high 12th on the Money List.

In April 2007, he became the first Indian golfer to participate in the Masters Tournament and acquitted himself well, finishing in a tie for 37th place at Augusta National.

Off the course, the highlight came when he was granted the Padma Shri by the Indian government, an award – the equivalent of a knighthood – given to Indian citizens to recognise their distinguished contribution in various spheres of public life, including the arts, industry and sports.

Is the son of former Olympic sprinter Milkha Singh, the so-called “Flying Sikh” whose life story was made into a Bollywood film in 2013.