By Rahul Banerji
Eight months after its last event, the Professional Golf Tour of India returns to action at the Rs 30 lakh Tata Steel PGTI Players Championship from Thursday.
It will be the first PGTI event since the Bengal Open back in late March, the forced break caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and the consequent lockdown.
The current season has been extended till 2021.
The first of five tournaments in calendar 2020 will be played between Panchkula Golf Club and Chandigarh Golf Club for the first two days. The former will be the venue for the last two days.
Top names
This is the fourth event of the 2020-21 PGTI season and will feature top Indian professionals such as Rashid Khan, Udayan Mane, Ajeetesh Sandhu, Khalin Joshi, Chikkarangappa and Aadil Bedi, amongst others.
It also signals the resumption of the Olympic qualification race, as the countdown to Tokyo 2021 has already begun.
PGTI events offer Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points with the top two Indians in the list qualifying for Tokyo on the revised cut-off date of June 21, 2021.
Rashid Khan is currently in the lead at 252nd place followed by Udayan Mane at 290th while Shubhankar Sharma is third at 348th.
Swapping courses
The format for the event will see one half of the field play their first round at Panchkula while the other half will play their first round at Chandigarh.
In round two both the halves of the field will switch venues. The third and fourth rounds will only be played at Panchkula.
Two-time Asian Tour winner Rashid Khan said, “It feels great to be getting back to competitive golf after such a long break.
“I have practiced hard and kept myself match-ready through this time. I’m focused on my next big goal which is qualifying for the Olympics.
“Chandigarh Golf Club has more trees and narrower fairways as compared to Panchkula so it will be interesting to play across these two venues as the playing conditions will be different and one will need to adapt well.
“I know these two golf courses well and have won at Chandigarh in the past so that gives me good confidence going into the event,” added the Delhi-based three-time winner of the PGTI Order of Merit.
OoM race resumes
The Order of Merit race also resumes this week. Youngsters dominate the rankings with 29-year-old Udayan Mane leading with season’s earnings of Rs. 14,66,500.
Pune-based professional Mane won the first two events of the season back in February.
The next four on the rankings – Veer Ahlawat, Viraj Madappa, Aman Raj and Aadil Bedi – are all 25 and below in age.
Bedi won the last PGTI event held in March this year after a record six-hole playoff victory against Udayan Mane.
Mane said, “I had good momentum at the start of the year, having won three events on the trot on the PGTI.
“I was looking forward to the rest of the season. But even after the break in the season, I continued to work on my game and the processes.
Fitness mantra
“I used this time to work hard on my fitness. I realised I needed to put in work on that when I lost the six-hole playoff to Aadil in Kolkata.
“I felt my energy levels were not as high as required during that extended phase of play and that led to my loss.”
Chandigarh’s Sandhu and Bedi will lead the local challenge. Ajeetesh won the last PGTI event staged at Chandigarh Golf Club last November.
Sandhu, also an Asian Tour winner, said, “It was tough to keep motivated during the long phase away from the game as there was uncertainty about the resumption of professional events.
“It was quite frustrating at times. But we knew that some time in the future the tour would resume. Thankfully it has.
“I have good memories from my win in Chandigarh last year so that works in my favour.
“Playing across two courses will be a good test of skill. As Panchkula is playing hard and fast and Chandigarh is playing soft, a variety of shots will be needed in the varying conditions.”
Also read: PGTI to wind down 2020 season with five-event schedule
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