Busy PGTI schedule for 2022 season with two new events is out

By Rahul Banerji

The Professional Golf Tour of India, PGTI, will hold nine tournaments between February and April that include new events in Kolkata and Delhi.

It will also host a jointly-sanctioned Asian Development Tour tournament at the Classic Golf and Country Club between March 29 and April 1.

With professional golf having taken a beating over the past 20-odd months thanks to the pandemic, the PGTI is wasting no time in getting its 2022 season rolling with the finishing stages of the Qualifying School ending on February 18.

The Rs 40 lakh Gujarat Open at the Kalhaar course in Ahmedabad is first up in the week following Q School from February 22 to 25, followed by the Rs 40 lakh Glade One Masters in the same city.

The action then shifts to Bangladesh with the Rs 50 lakh Chattogram (Chittagong) Open from March 9 to 12 before the first new event in the calendar in Kolkata from March 15 to 18, venue and purse to be announced.

Another new tournament, the $500,000 DGC Open jointly sanctioned by the Asian Tour and PGTI from March 24 to 27 is next with the $75,000 ADT-PGTI event at the Classic course to follow.

An innovative new hit-about – minus Order of Merit points – is up next at a yet to be decided venue in the form of the Rs 30 lakh Ballantyne Golf Championship mixed pro challenge in early April.

The Rs 50 lakh Tata Steel Players Championship at Chandigarh Golf Club and the Rs 40 lakh Delhi-NCR Open at Noida Golf Course between April 12 and April 22.

Blandy misses out

At the Slync.io Dubai Desert Classic at the Emirates GC, world number 5 Viktor Hovland of Norway outlasted England’s Richard Bland in a playoff to claim the DP World Tour’s season-opening title.

Both were vying for their first-ever Rolex Series title.

Locked together at 12-under 276 after the 48-year-old Bland (69-68-71-68) sank two closing birdies, 24-year-old Hovland (68-69-73-66) closed out the first playoff hole.

Bland’s putt attempt just slipped past the pin while Hovland, who could climb to third in the world rankings with his Dubai win needed a two-foot tap in for birdie,

It was Bland’s third career playoff, one of which fetched his maiden pro title at the Betfred British Masters last year over Guido Migliozzi, and Hovland’s first.

Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy (71-66-69-71) found the water in the closing stages to finish third, one shot behind the leaders on 11-under 277.

Shubhankar Sharma (72-72-76-76) could not repeat his Abu Dhabi heroics and was well down the order with an aggregate 8-over par 296.

Also read: PGTI Q School resumes in Ahmedabad from February 7