Hero Indian Open 2025: What's in a surname? This Jordan switched to golf for fear of pace bowling

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Gurugram, March 30: What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear the surname Jordan? It's got to be basketball legend Michael Jordan. But we are talking about Matthew Jordan, an English golfer who is competing here at the DLF Golf & Country Club in the Hero Indian Open. The Englishman, apparently, has no connection with the American.

The 29-year-old, who is still searching for his first DP World Tour trophy, actually took to cricket as any other Englishman around 12 years of age. However, the fear of pace bowling forced him to quit cricket at 16 and take up golf as a career.

"I basically played until I was probably about 15. I was kind of quite small then. So, when people were six foot (in height) in the nets, bowling, you know, 15, 16 years old at like 70 miles an hour, I ended up getting scared. That's what stopped it. And then kind of golf took over. Also Read: Angry Young Men! Treacherous 'Black Knight' layout brings out the aggression during Hero Indian Open

"I love cricket. Probably not as much as the Indians do; it's (like) your religion. But yeah, I mean, I love the sport. I played it for three, four years. I mean, we keep going on about the DLF course being brutal, and it's so tough, and we're knackered from it. But we do enjoy it at the same time," Jordan told myKhel.

The Hoylake native turned pro in 2018 and won his first European Challenge Tour title in only his seventh start. He triumphed in a play-off against Lorenzo Scalise at the Italian Challenge Open in June 2019, paving his way to the main DP World Tour.

The next year, he had two top-10 finishes - tied third in the ISPS Handa Wales Open and tied ninth in the Aphrodite Hills Cyprus Showdown. In 2021, he registered three top-10 finishes from 24 starts and two top-10 results the next year from 28 events.

2023 was his best season with the highlight being his top-10 finish in the year's oldest Major - British Open - at his home course Royal Liverpool Golf Club. Despite a good finish, Jordan said that it was immense pressure for him to do well as a local pro.

"That's probably the most pressure I've felt. I mean, that is like the qualifying beforehand when I knew it was there to try and get in. Everyone's asking me how I'm doing it. You know, we need you there kind of thing. So I put pressure on myself, of course.

"So to then get in and then have the first tee shot and then perform well, which is what I wanted to do and come down 18 with a crowd, even though it was chucking it down. The whole week just kind of got better and better. It kind of went how I wanted it to go. And yeah, which is brilliant and so self-satisfying," he recalled.

He came close to winning a title on three occasions in 2024, most recently at the Porsche Singapore Classic last week. The Englishman is confident that a glittering trophy is just around the corner if he continues to remain consistent.

"Hopefully, I don't stop. It's one thing that I'm pleased about. I've always thought my game is about consistently performing and being up there to give myself more chances. It's what I did as an amateur. I didn't quite do that the first couple of years to start off with, but I feel like that's really starting to come out now. So, over the last six, nine months, it's been great. So many chances. And as long as I keep doing that, it can never be a bad thing, can it?" he remarked.

Competing in the Hero Indian Open for the second time, one had to ask the golfer about what he liked about the sub-continent. "It's my second time in India, and certainly the food. You cook things a lot spicier than back at home. I have to keep telling everyone less spice, less spice because it keeps blowing my head off... But yeah, it's great. We really enjoy ourselves."

Asked if he visited any of the historical places in India, like the Taj Mahal? "No, unfortunately not because we were in Singapore last week and then this week. You kind of just get into a work mode, unfortunately. The Taj Mahal is a three-hour drive away from here. So, it ends up taking like a whole day. And unfortunately, we just don't have time like that at the moment," Jordan signed off.