“The buzz that surrounds what’s happening here this week is second only to a World Cup of Cricket or an IPL tournament.”
Indian golfer Shiv Kapur was around in 2014 when Tiger Woods came to Delhi Golf Club and played with himself and Anirban Lahiri in front of thousands, and he thinks the arrival of Rory Mcilroy and Tommy Fleetwood for the DP World India Championship is just as important for Indian golf.
“To bring the modern-day greats of the game to India is going to be so good for the future of the game, not just from a spectator perspective, but also the next generation that’s sort of inspired to take up the game.” said the 42-yr-old, who is a member at the club and fancies his chances of victory.
The biggest tournament in Indian history with a prize find of 4 million US dollars is the brainchild of DP World Deputy CEO Yuvraj Narayan who consulted with players like Kapur to create the event.
“Everything requires a trigger and by getting the best players in the world to come and play in India is just the kind of inspiration the Indian youth needs to get involved with the game.” said Narayan.
And that has been the sticking point for Indian golf. Traditionally the talented sportsmen and women in the country gravitate towards cricket, with golf lagging behind.
But DP World and the Professional Golf Tour of India’s (PGTI) have come together to ensure that 28 Indian golfers will play, including Kapur and the country’s highest ranked golfer Shubhankar Sharma.
Rory McIlroy is teeing it up against five other Ryder Cuppers in Tommy Fleetwood, Shane Lowry, Victor Hovland, Ben Griffin and Brian Harman in a star studded field.
[Music] [Music] Everything requires a trigger and by getting the best players in the world to come and play India is just the kind of inspiration the Indian youth needs uh to get involved with the game. And uh we are going we are making sure that uh whatever happens in this event over the last 4 days uh people can see on television. Uh so it will be telecast uh in India uh across India and to the rest of the world uh which will showcase India as a future permanent destination for global golf with the best players participation and which will cause will give the inspiration to our people. [Music] [Music] I think it’s amazing you know uh when Yvraan and the whole DP world team came together with an idea of doing an event in India they said they wanted to do it at the highest level and you know the highest level means you know bringing in Rory Mroy and Tommy and you know half the Ryder Cup team here and all the superstars I mean this is huge for Indian golf I don’t think people realize it this is the buzz that surrounds uh what’s happening here this week is second only to a world cup of cricket or an IPL tournament you know outside of cricket I think this is the biggest sporting event we have in India. Uh my phone’s been off the hook, you know, asking for passes and tickets and people wanting to come and watch golf. And I think that’s really what Indian golf needs.
