Sep 04, 2018: India’s Jeev Milkha Singh was left humbled after he became the first player in the history of Indian golf to have a tournament named after him.
The Chandigarh leg of the domestic (Professional Golf Tour of India) PGTI Tour will henceforth be called the Jeev Milkha Singh Invitational Presented by TAKE Solutions, with the Indian golf legend assuming responsibility of tournament host, under the support of TAKE solutions and PGTI.
The tournament will be played at the Chandigarh Golf Club, Singh’s home club, from November 1 to 4, and offer an enhanced prize purse of Rs1.5 crores which is a Rs 50 lakh increase from last year’s prize fund when hometown hero Shubhankar Sharma won the event.
“It’s just an amazing honour,” said the 46-year-old Arjuna Award winner, which was given by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India to recognize his outstanding international achievements in golf.
“You have tournaments named after legends like Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus on the PGA Tour in the US. I have played in those events and have always thought it was the greatest recognition for players to have the Tour name their events after them. I never thought I’d have the same honour one day. I am truly humbled.
“I did not have to think twice before agreeing. Not only is the tournament being named after me, it is also in my hometown of Chandigarh and being played at Chandigarh Golf Club, and I owe a lot to both these places.
“I’d like to thank TAKE Solutions, and its founder Mr HR Srinivasan. For them to propose that someone else’s name takes the limelight when they are footing the bill, it just shows they have their heart in the right place for the game. I would also like to thank the PGTI to agreeing to this,” added Jeev, who said he plans to do full justice to the tournament as a host, but that would not stop him from trying to win the title.
“The last few years have been tough for me because of various injuries. However, I can feel that things are slowly turning around. The first objective would always be to win the tournament, even if it means I am being an ungrateful host,” said the two-time Asian Tour number one.
“But I do have a few thoughts to make the Jeev Milkha Singh Invitational Presented by TAKE Solutions a world-class event. Perhaps I won’t be able to do much in the first year apart from requesting my friends and colleagues on the Tour to come and play, and make all the players feel comfortable and welcome at the event.
“Yes, I’d love it to become Chandigarh’s first ever Asian Tour event later down the road. But let’s get it done for the first year and we will see how we can continue to upgrade the tournament,” added Singh.
TAKE Solution’s founder Mr. HR Srinivasan was delighted that Singh had agreed to their request.
In a Tweet, Srinivasan said: “It is to honour one of the country’s greatest sportsman and the best ambassador of golf we have. This is our little but meaningful contribution to development of professional golf and golfers in India.”
The tournament will form the 17th leg on the PGTI Tour schedule for the 2018 season.
Asian Tour Release
