File photo of England’s Luke Donald, who led Europe to a second successive Ryder Cup win and will be making his first India appearance at the Delhi Golf Club next week. Image courtesy DP World Tour.
By Rahul Banerji
Europe’s victorious Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald will join his players including Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood and Shane Lowry at next week’s $4 million DP World India Championship.
In a statement, event organisers said the 47-year-old would be making his first appearance in India.
Donald led Europe to a 15-13 title defence at New York’s Bethpage Black to secure a first Ryder Cup victory on US soil since 2012.
After captaining the team to their famous victory at Rome’s Marco Simone two years ago, Donald is only the second to win home and away after Tony Jacklin in 1985 and 1987.
The former world number one joins an impressive field that also has another member of his European teams from Rome and New York, Norway’s Viktor Hovland.
The landmark tournament, taking place at Delhi Golf Club from October 16 to 19, offers the largest prize fund ever for a DP World Tour event in India.
Seven-time DP World Tour winner Donald will make his professional debut in India when he takes to the DGC’s Lodhi Course.
Storied career
He has enjoyed success in Asia during a storied career that includes titles at the Dunlop Phoenix tournament in Japan in 2012 and 2013 amongst his 17 worldwide victories.
“It’s incredibly exciting to be playing in the inaugural DP World India Championship,” Donald said.
“It’s shaping up to be a fantastic field, and I’m sure the event will be a great addition to the Race to Dubai. It’s always a pleasure to play in a new location, and I’m looking forward to teeing it up in front of the fans in Delhi.”
The DP World India Championship, co-sanctioned with the Professional Golf Tour of India marks a new chapter for professional golf in India following the success of the 2025 Hero Indian Openand positions India as premier destination for world golf.
The field set to gather at DGC includes American major winner Brian Harman, besides compatriot and two-time PGA Tour winner Ben Griffin, who made his Ryder Cup debut in New York
Past heroes
Former European Ryder Cup players Nicolas Colsaerts – who celebrated his 500th DP World appearance last week – Rafa Cabrera Bello, Ross Fisher, Andy Sullivan and Bernd Wiesberger will also tee it up.
They will be joined by 2025 Race to Dubai winners Michael Kim of the US, who claimed his first DP World Tour win in France last month, South Africa’s Thriston Lawrence, Frenchmen Martin Couvra and Adrien Saddier.
Some of the others are England’s Richard Mansell, John Parry and Jordan Smith, and 2025 Hero Indian Open winner Eugenio Chacarra of Spain.
Among the Indian players aiming to impress on home soil, will be LIV Golf star Anirban Lahiri and two-time DP World Tour winner, Shubhankar Sharma besides 2024 PGTI merit list topper Veer Ahlawat.
Also read: Luke Donald hailed as Europe’s best-ever Ryder Cup captain
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