Asian Tour makes a return to India

Notwithstanding the challenges posed by the third wave of Covid, the inaugural edition of the $500,000 DGC Open golf tournament was officially announced here on Thursday.

The third event of Asian Tour’s 2022 schedule, the tournament will be held from March 24 to 27 at the Delhi Golf Club course. DGC’s last Asian Tour event was the Panasonic Open in November 2019.

Possible field

Though the Delhi Golf Club President Manjit Singh was understandably non-committal about the entry-related details, considering these were still early days, he did mention a possible field of 132 players, provided the rising third wave relented.

A strong field of Indians is obviously expected in the given circumstances.

However, relevant Travel Advisories are likely to play a role in how the regulars from the Asian Tour respond to this first-time event on the Tour.

This will also be the richest prize-money event, outside the joint-sanctioned events on the European Tour and Asian Tour, seen in over 25 years at the DGC. It matches the prize-fund offered in the 1995 Gadgil Western event. Coincidentally, the winner of that event, Gaurav Ghei, along with two-time Indian Open champion Ali Sher, was present at the announcement.

This will also be the first dollar-event on the Gary Player-redesigned course, following the changes made in 2019. Gary Player, winner of nine major titles, sent a video message and shared his joy at the announcement of a Tour event on the renovated course.

Asian Tour’s Commissioner and CEO Cho Minn Thant also shared a video message expressing his delight at the new event on the Tour.