The recent tie-up with the DP World Tour and the PGA Tour has galvanized the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI), fees its chief executive Uttam Singh Mundy.
Mundy, who was a proven winner on the Indian pro Tour in his playing days, is relishing his role at the PGTI.
“We have seen ups and downs in the last few seasons, but 2022 showed a definite upturn. The agreement with the DP World Tour and the PGA Tour was a big boost for our membership.
“The membership is happy with the fact that we will have a lot more of events alongside DP World and there is also a pathway to bigger Tours,” he said.
However, one of the biggest sweeteners for the PGTI was that the winner of the PGTI Order of Merit winner would get a membership card into the DP World Tour. Also, the second placed finisher would get a place in the final stage of European Tour Qualifying School.
“This was a big incentive for our Tour,” says Mundy.
“Manu Gandas who topped the Order of Merit after a superb contest with second placed Yuvraj Sandhu, is now a member of the DP World Tour.
“His category, which is above that of the DP World Tour Q-School winner, will give him a lot of starts. Now we have Manu alongside Shubhankar (Sharma) on the DP World Tour and it encourages others to strive more.” Mundy is also happy with the addition of two European Challenge Tour events in India.
He also feels that an arrangement with the world’s two biggest Tours will also enhance the image of the domestic Tour and attract more sponsorships.
“We had about 22 events (in 2022), including a couple of internationals, and we now hope to have about 25-28 events in 2023. There is greater interest in sponsorship and that is also a big takeaway for us,” concluded Mundy.
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