March 02, 2015: Tommy Fleetwood and Marc Warren, both players in Top-100 and formerly in Top-50, as well as former WGC-HSBC winner David Howell, have confirmed their participation in the 2016 Hero Indian Open.
The confirmation of three British professionals, who between them have 17 international titles has further strengthened the field for the 2016 Hero Indian Open. The National Open, which will have its 52nd staging, will be held at the venerated Delhi Golf Club from March 17 to 20, 2016.
The prize purse has also been enhanced to US $ 1.66m with US $ 276,660 going to the winner and the runner-up will collect US$ 184,440.
Tommy Fleetwood, 25, a former World No. 3 in amateurs, is seen as a very bright talent, who announced his arrival on the big stage with a win at the Johnnie Walker at Gleneagles and is currently ranked No. 81 in the world and has been a Top-50 player as recent as 2014.
Howell, an English professional, has seven wins, five of them on the European Tour. His big moment came in 2005, when he won the WGC-HSBC beating Tiger Woods and became World No. 13, the best British player at that time. His wins have come at big events like Dubai Desert (1999); BMW International (2005), WGC-HSBC (2005); BMW Championship (2006) and Alfred Dunhill (2013). An interesting personality, Howell, also sometimes works as a commentator for a Sky Sports. Runner-up at Joburg Open and Volvo China in 2015 and 9th at BMW and third at Saltire Matchplay, Howell, was T-13 at Joburg Open in January.
The event sanctioned by the Asian Tour and European Tour for the second straight year will carry an enhanced prize purse of US$1.66 million at the historic Delhi Golf Club in the national capital.
Defending champion Anirban Lahiri and three-time Major champion Padraig Harrington will headline one of the strongest-ever fields to assemble at the Hero Indian Open. Featuring alongside the marquee names, a strong field of players from Europe and Asia will once again return for the 52nd edition of India’s national open.
The Hero Indian Open will see in action all top Indian players, who between them have won numerous international titles. The Indian field includes Jeev Milkha Singh, Arjun Atwal, SSP Chawrasia, Shiv Kapur, Gaganjeet Bhullar, Rashid Khan, Rahil Gangjee, Himmat Rai and Chiragh Kumar among others.
The roster of former champions includes Siddikur Rahman (Bangladesh), Thaworn Wiratchant (Thailand), Mardan Mamat (Singapore) and India’s own Atwal.
While Lahiri defends his title, Chawrasia, four-time runner-up at this iconic event will attempt to go one better at the course, where he has won twice, and was second in the last two editions of the Hero Indian Open.
Nimbus Sport, which has promoted the Hero Indian Open since 2011, has acquired the rights to manage the tournament from 2015.
Apart from Hero MotoCorp, the other sponsors in the Hero Indian Open are Rolex, Emirates, DP World, Jumeirah Golf Estates, BMW, Titleist, Golf Plus Magazine, Indus Club and Fortis Healthcare.
Source: Hero Indian Open Release
