Indian Open joins European Tour

Indian Open gets an upgrade to the European Tour

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Golf in India is about to receive a major boost with the adoption of the Indian Open, our country’s premier golfing event, into the European Tour. Golfing Indian has exclusive information from reliable sources to confirm that the event shall be hosted by the Delhi Golf Club under the aegis of the European Tour.

 

It is likely that the next edition of the marquee PGTI event will now be celebrated next year, perhaps in March 2015. The Indian Open owes its genesis to some heavy encouragement from Australian golfer Peter Thomson, who believed that the game in India deserved an international event. The first Indian Open was played in 1964 and it took six years before it was adapted into the Asian Tour in 1970.

 

The move will likely displace the Avantha Masters – which is an event that has sanction from the European Tour, the Asian Tour and PGTI. It is understood that money and timing are perhaps key factors behind the displacement of the four year old event.

 

The decision shall bring the focus back to one of the oldest and prime golf events held anywhere on the sub-continent. The Indian Open has long been sponsored by Hero, the country’s leading manufacturer of motor vehicles. It is likely that the tournament will attract significantly higher interest in its new avatar.

 

The Indian Open had a prize fund of $1.25mn in its last outing at the Delhi Golf Club in 2013. It will be interesting to see the impact of the upgrade both in terms of money and participation when the covers are taken off the freshly minted event.

 

Mohammad Siddikur of Bangladesh is the defending champion at the Indian Open, while Chinnaswamy Muniyappa, winner in 2009, was the last Indian to lift the trophy.

 

Report by Anand Datla

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