Asian Tour back in India with DGC Open
Qualifying spots for Open at St Andrews announced through R&A
The Asian Tour has announced its return to India as it enhances its 2022 schedule.
Tournament golf is set to return to Delhi Golf Club from March 24-27 when the Asian Tour hosts the inaugural The DGC Open triumphantly signalling the return of the Asian Tour to India for the first time in nearly two-and-a-half years.
To be staged on the renovated Lodhi Course and boasting a purse of $500,000, the event will be one of the standout tournaments in the early part of the season on the 2022 Asian Tour schedule. “The DGC Open is a new tournament, on a newly renovated Gary Player Design course and in many respects represents a new start for everyone involved,” said Manjit Singh, President, Delhi Golf Club. “It is an exciting opportunity for The Delhi Golf Club to play a key role in the return of the Asian Tour to India. We feel it is extremely important that we set the wheels in motion to restore tournament golf in India and help the game we are all so passionate about. To commemorate this occasion Mr. Gary Player, himself, is scheduled to be present.”
The last time the Asian Tour staged an event in India saw Korean teenager Kim Joo-hyung claim the Panasonic Open India in November 2019. While the same event in October of 2018 was the most recent occasion Delhi Golf Club hosted an Asian Tour event. “The addition of The DGC Open to our 2022 schedule is a massive boost for the Asian Tour and something we have been working very hard on behind the scenes to facilitate,” said Cho Minn Thant, Commissioner and CEO of the Asian Tour.
The Tour resumed play, following a 20-month break caused by the pandemic, in November and December last year with back-to-back events in Phuket.
Chan Shih-chang won the Blue Canyon Phuket Championship before Phachara Khongwatmai was victorious in the Laguna Phuket Championship.
The R&A and the Asian Tour have announced that next month’s SMBC Singapore Open, 20 – 23 January, 2022, at Sentosa Golf Club, will be part of The Open Qualifying Series and receive four spots for The 150th Open at St Andrews, July 14 – 17, 2022. The leading four players who finish in the top 12 and ties, who are not already exempt, will earn a place in the game’s oldest Major.
The New Zealand Open presented by Sky Sports and the Kolon Korean Open are the other Asian Tour events that receive these prestigious spots, three and two respectively.
The Open Qualifying Series started at the Joburg Open last November on the DP World Tour, with South Africans Thriston Lawrence and Zander Lombard, plus England’s Ashley Chesters booking their spots.
In total 16 professional events in 11 countries make up The Open Qualifying Series in 2022.