That could all change soon, however, given the emergence of Anirban Lahiri.
The 28-year-old is blazing a trail out of one of the least likely places on earth: a country of over 1.25 billion that fields only two public golf courses.
Born in the Indian city of Pune, the young Lahiri shadowed his father, an Army doctor who played on private military courses. In the intervening two decades, he's rarely put down his clubs.
Lahiri's 2015 was impressive by nearly any golfer's standards: finishing No. 1 on the Asian Tour, 20th on the European Tour, and gaining entry to the prestigious U.S. PGA Tour. To top it off, he tied for fifth in the U.S. PGA Championship -- the best performance by an Indian golfer at any of the four majors.
Suffice to say, Lahiri's stock is on the rise.
Despite a hectic playing schedule, he found time to open up to CNN on everything from meeting Tiger Woods for the first time, to meditation, to India's emergence as a sporting nation.
Was your father surprised when you wanted to take up golf professionally rather than follow in his footsteps as a doctor?
He was very encouraging right from the start. He introduced me to the game, and as I got older through my teens and I started getting better, I had to make a few decisions.
I had to make a decision while I was in high school to go with medicine or business -- you had to pick a stream. But I decided that if I want to play golf, then I couldn't possibly take the medical stream because I wouldn't be able to travel to my events, and I wouldn't have much time away from my books.
It wasn't something that happened overnight, but at the same time it wasn't something they were averse to. They were very encouraging.
" India as a nation is not a sporting nation. We don't have a big sporting culture. We have a very big education culture. "
You practice Vipassana meditation. How were you introduced to that?
About 11 years ago my mother found out about it, and she did a course to learn Vipassana and it really helped her lead a better life. Then my dad was equally taken by the technique, so it was only natural for me to find out what it was all about.
It's a form of meditation which is very introspective. It's not like you chant a mantra, it's not like you visualize an object or an image or anything else.
Yes, it helps your ability to stay in the present and not get ahead of yourself. It's obvious that when you are playing in a tournament situation that the adrenaline is going to kick in and your heart rate is going to go up.
But at the same time, it's also difficult to keep your awareness levels up, and that's how Vipassana helps me, because it allows me to stay aware of everything that's going on. And by awareness, I don't just mean what's going on around me, but what I'm feeling at that point in time inside of me.
And whenever you can be in touch with that part of yourself, it's going to help you center yourself. It's going to help you to calm yourself and just be in the present -- and that itself is a major tool.
So it's more of an ongoing practice for all 18 holes?
Yes... (but) it's not like yoga, or something where I get into a pose or a posture and that's that, no.
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