Rashid Khan registered a runner-up finish at the DGC Open in 2023
With the US$2 million Hero Indian Open moving exclusively to the European Tour schedule in 2023 and continuing the same, 2024 could be the first time in perhaps 40-50 years that India does not have a single event on the Asian Tour schedule.
At its peak a few years ago, India had four events annually on the Asian Tour – besides the Indian Open which has been an important feature on the Asian Tour since the 1960’s, events such as the Hero Honda Masters, the SAIL Open, the Panasonic Open, and recently the Delhi Golf Club Open allowed Indian golfers to gain world class experience, access to the entire Asian Tour circuit, world ranking points and prize money in US dollars. The strong presence of events in India allowed Indian stars Jeev Milkha Singh, Arjun Atwal and Jyoti Randhawa to finish No 1 in Asian tour rankings which put Indian golf on the world map.
If the current situation continues, Indians playing the domestic circuit will find it increasingly difficult to gain entries to the rest of the Asian Tour events at a time when the prize money on the Asian Tour has grown exponentially.
In fact, the Asian Tour, which in 2022 signed an unprecedented 10 year US$300 million sponsorship agreement with the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund, has announced its initial schedule and once finalised it is expected that the schedule will grow beyond the 2022 level, which saw 23 events with total prize money of US$35 million.
The tour will start its journey with the US$ 1mn Malaysian Open in Feb. and conclude with International Series Qatar in December.
The US$750,000 DGC Open presented by Mastercard—the sole Asian Tour event in India for the past two seasons—is missing from the 2024 schedule as reports are that Delhi Golf Club has decided not to stage the event in 2024.
Photo – Asian Tour