Golfers (from left) Shubhankar Sharma, Khalin Joshi DP World PGTI president and tournament host Kapil Dev, Yuvraj Sandhu and Saptak Talwar, pose with the Tour Championship trophy at Jaypee Greens in Greater Noida on Tuesday. Image courtesy DP World PGTI.

Vishwa Samudra Tour C’ship set for Jaypee Greens teeoff

By Rahul Banerji

With the $4 million DP World India Championship up next week, Shubhankar Sharma is in town early to get a feel of home conditions after much of the year in Europe.

Sharma and 63 others will tee it up from Wednesday at Jaypee Greens in Greater Noida for the grandly named Vishwa Samudra presents Kapil Dev Invitational Tour Championship powered by Nalco.

The limited-field tournament carries a prize purse of Rs 2 crore and will be the fourth edition of the Kapil Dev Invitational, but being held as the Tour Championship for the first time.

Sharma has had an indifferent season on the DP World (European) Tour and is currently 180th on the Race to Dubai Rankings (Order of Merit) and in need of points to improve his standing.

The DPWIC at Delhi Golf Club next week and the Genesis Championship in Korea are his last opportunities to climb the standings as only the top 100 retain playing status for the next year.  

At Jaypee Greens, the current top 60 on the DP World PGTI Order of Merit and four tour sponsor invitees including Sharma, Yivraj Sandhu and Rahil Gangjee make up the field.

Decisive event

The Tour Championship[ will also decide the top 24 in the Race to DP World India Championship for the season’s finale at DGC next week.

Leading Indian professionals in the field include DP World PGTI Order of Merit leader Saptak Talwar, Khalin Joshi, Veer Ahlawat, Honey Baisoya, Akshay Sharma and Rashid Khan, to name a few.

Besides Talwar, the other leading Greater Noida-based professionals in the field are Amardeep Malik and Arjun Sharma.

Ten overseas professionals from eight countries are also in the fray. 

They are Sri Lanka’s N. Thangaraja, Italy’s Michele Ortolani, Bangladesh’s Jamal Hossain, Badal Hossain and Md Akbar Hossain, Nepal’s Subash Tamang, Stepan Danek from Czechia, Uganda’s Joshua Seale, Thailand’s Tanapat Pichaikool and Koichiro Ishika of Japan.

The tournament combines the professional event with a Pro-Am component with each of the four rounds featuring a separate set of amateurs with a different competition being held in every round. 

Pro-Am format

Each Pro-Am team will consist of one professional and one amateur who will play in the modified scramble format. The professional’s score will be counted towards both events and the top three Pro-Am teams stand to win prizes at the end of each round.

“I am delighted to see the Kapil Dev Invitational return for its fourth edition as the Tour Championship,” the DP World PGTI president said. 

“It is particularly gratifying that the tournament brings together the best professionals on the Tour while also creating an opportunity for amateurs to experience the competitive environment of professional golf.

“The tournament promises intense competition as the top 60 professionals also have a chance to finish in the top 24 of the Race to DP World India Championship.”

Also read: PGA champ Rai set for DP World India Championship debut