DLF Masters tees off with domestic stars in attendance

Jyoti Randhawa, Ashok Kumar and Gaganjeet Bhullar comprise a strong field for PGTI`s Rs 95 lakh DLF Masters.

New Delhi: Seasoned pro Jyoti Randhawa, defending champion Ashok Kumar and rising star Gaganjeet Bhullar comprise a strong field for PGTI`s Rs 95 lakh DLF Masters teeing off on Wednesday, with organisers aiming for an upgradation to the Asian Tour in the seasons to come.

One of the biggest events on the Indian golf calendar, the DLF Masters will also feature Himmat Rai, who won the Asian Tour`s Singapore Classic earlier this month, along with Avantha Masters champion SSP Chowrasia. The other PGTI regulars such as Anirban lahiri, Mukesh Kumar and Digvijay Singh will also stake their claim at the trophy, which carries a winner`s purse of Rs 15,35,675. "This is my home course and I will try to do my level best against a strong field. I underwent a hernia operation earlier this year and couldn`t compete for four months. All this is not in my hands but playing well is certainly upto me," the defending champion said at the pre-tournament press conference on Tuesday. Bhullar, who has been plying his trade in Europe for a while, said the experience has improved his game. "In the last two months I have been playing on the European soil. My game is improving on the courses there. The courses are different and difficult. The conditions are lot more windy," he said. This year however, Bhullar will also give a shot at the US PGA Tour Qualifying School. "This year I will probably skip the European Tour card for the PGA Q-School," he said. But for the time being, Bhullar is focussing on the DLFMasters for which he declined an opportunity to compete in the European Tour`s Dunhill Championships as the invitation came too late. "I had already committed to DLF Masters. The Dunhill invitation came late," he said. The organisers of the event, meanwhile, are aiming big and trying to bring it on the Asian Tour calendar. "We have plans to make an Asian Tour event. We have been talking to the PGTI about how the event can be taken to the next level. Hopefully, very soon it will be on Asian Tour," said DLF Golf Resorts Director Aakash Ohri. The tournament will feature a team championship on the weekend in which two professionals will team up with an amateur. PTI