Tiru's Game For Life

Colombo, Sri Lanka: The year was 1980. Sri Lankan golfer Tirusha Jesudason (née Fernando) was at the peak of her prowess, ruling the amateur scene in Asia with multiple wins across the continent.

Tirusha’s impressive amateur haul included five All-India Amateur titles, four Sri Lankan Amateur wins, and victories in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Hong Kong.

While it was not the norm then for Asian lady golfers to trek the professional trail, Tirusha – or Tiru as she is popularly known – decided to take the plunge. Her destination was Europe, to test her skills and mettle on the newly-formed Women's Professional Golfers' Association (WPGA) Tour, the pre-cursor of today’s Ladies European Tour. Tiru went into the history books as the first Asian player to compete on the new Tour, and as Sri Lanka's first touring professional across both genders.

The catalyst for the bold move was a chat with English professional Mickey Walker, after Tiru finished third at the 1979 British Amateur Stroke Play Championship.

“Mickey was a good friend of mine and she said: 'Why don't you join the European Tour?' They had just started the Tour that year. My father said 'okay', so I joined the Tour in 1980 and played on it for 11 years,” said Tiru, who represented Brigham Young University on the US collegiate circuit from 1975 to 1978.

In more than a decade competing in Europe, Tiru came close to winning on a number of occasions. One of the highlights of her pro career was the 1985 British Women’s Open at Moor Park Golf Club, when she led briefly in the final round before falling back.

“I was in the second to last group, so I was right up there. All my putts were falling, and I knew I was playing really well. When I got to the 15th tee, suddenly the cameras came around me and I heard a guy say: 'Okay, now she's about to tee off,' and I thought: 'That's me!' And then I looked across the fairway to where the leaders were, and I saw that I was leading – and that was the end! I couldn't even hold my club, and I would say it was a fear of winning. Just doubled and bogeyed the whole way back,” Tiru remembered with a wry smile.

Golf was very much a family affair in Tiru’s youth. Her late parents were both icons of Sri Lankan golf – dad Pinsiripal ‘Pin’ Fernando is revered as the nation’s greatest amateur golfer with multiple Sri Lanka Amateur titles and two All-India Championship wins to his name, while mum Pam Fernando was a celebrated player as well and won the Sri Lanka Women’s Amateur title three times. In 1969, Pam made history by becoming the first Ceylonese lady captain of Royal Colombo Golf Club. She is also in the Guinness Book of Records as the oldest woman to win a national title, claiming her final Sri Lankan Women's win at age 54 in 1981.

Tiru recalls how her parents introduced her to the game at the nine-hole Havelock Golf Club in Colombo.

“They were always at the club, so we used to go there straight from school. I went to England to study, but didn't play there. When I came back, I started playing at Havelock and my father recognised that I had talent. I was 18 years old and a 13-handicapper, and he sent me to play in the All-India – and I got into the semi-finals. So that really got me thinking: 'Yes, I can play',” she reminisced.

In the mid-1990s, Tiru took a hiatus from golf to share a life of ministry with her late husband, John Jesudason. Now back in the amateur ranks, she plays regularly at Royal Colombo where she is an honorary member.

When not on the fairways, Tiru keeps busy with various business concerns including as a Director of Paradise Golf Tours Celyon – a specialist golf travel company she co-founded with siblings Priath and Dilrukshi, both accomplished golfers as well. Priath was the Royal Colombo club champion in 1979, while Dilrukshi won the first Sri Lankan Junior Golf Championship at Havelock Golf Club in 1962.

Tiru also devotes time and effort to give back to the game which has been such an important part of her life, serving on the Sri Lankan Golf Union’s player selection committee and taking on mentoring roles. The sprightly septuagenarian aims to leave a lasting physical legacy by building a world-class golf course in Jaffna on the northern tip of Sri Lanka.

“My vision is to build a championship golf course in Jaffna, because I feel that there's so much talent there. My husband was an old boy of St John's College in Jaffna. He took me there once, and I really loved it. We’ve identified the land and have the investors, so it's just about putting it together,” Tiru revealed.

“I want to give back to the game and encourage people to take up golf ... and keep on playing. It’s a game for life.”