The European Tour has announced the cancellation of the US$ 1.75mn Hero Indian Open, scheduled in October due to COVID-19 situation in the country.
The statement from the European Tour read: “The European Tour today confirms the Hero Indian Open scheduled to take place from October 28-31, has been cancelled due to the ongoing threat in the country posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
With the safety of everyone involved in the tournament being the main priority and travel to and from India remaining challenging, the decision has been taken following consultation with the Indian Golf Union, the Asian Tour and the tournament title sponsor Hero MotoCorp Ltd.
The European Tour will look to schedule a replacement tournament in the final week of October but there are no definitive plans as to where that will be at this stage.”
Earlier in December 2020, India Golf Weekly had reported on the addition of the Hero Indian Open on the European Tour’s schedule but missing the prize fund and the venue for its 57th edition.
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The 2019 edition (56th) saw Stephen Gallacher of Scotland taking the top honours.
The tournament was started in 1964, with major support of five-time British Open champion Peter Thomson. He would himself win the tournament three times (1964, 1966 and 1976). The longest continuously running annual international sporting event in India, the Hero Indian Open has been previously called: Indian Open (1964-1989), Wills Indian Open (1990-1996), Classic Indian Open (1997- 2001), Royal Challenge Indian Open (2002-2004) and Hero Honda Indian Open (2005-2010) before assuming its current name since 2011. S.S.P. Chawrasia’s successive wins in 2016 (at DGC) and 2017 (at DLF G&CC) made him the first Indian to successfully defend a European Tour title.