Anirban Lahiri produced runners up finishes on the PGA Tour as well as LIV Golf in 2022
An unusually eventful year for golf comes to a close, so here at India Golf Weekly we have put together our list of a few highs and lows for Indian golf from 2022 to stimulate the thoughts of readers. There were plenty of successes and setbacks to choose from, both on and off the golf course, making this a difficult list to narrow down. Here are a few picks, we invite our readers to share their picks as well.
Highlights
- Anirban Lahiri’s second place finish at The Players Championship. Lahiri was in contention coming down the final 9 holes on the PGA Tour’s biggest stage, but a miraculous up and down on the final hole from Cam Smith saw him miss out.
View this post on Instagram - DP World Tour and the PGA Tour alliance with the Professional Golf Tour of India, which essentially “includes a commitment to developing golf in India and a pathway for the country’s top players to reach the highest levels of the men’s professional game.”
View this post on Instagram
Under this new arrangement, the winner of the PGTI Order of Merit will earn DP World Tour membership, a pathway that was not available earlier. In addition, PGTI players will have access to 60 spots in each of two new US$300,000 Challenge Tour events, which will be played in Bangalore next March, bringing better competition and greater exposure to Indian soil.
Rumour is that the PGTI will also get a cash injection worth around Rs 10 crores a year as a result of this tie up which, if used wisely, change the fortunes of the domestic tour players permanently for the better.
3. Gaganjeet Bhullar ended a four-year international title drought for Indian players, the longest since the mid 1990’s, when he won the Indonesian Open in August 2022. It was Bhullar’s 10 th win on the Asian Tour, which is a record for Indians. He also became the first three time winner of the Indonesian Open three times, having previously won it in 2013 and 2016.
View this post on Instagram
4. 18 yr old Pranavi Urs of Mysore earned playing rights for the US LPGA’s development Tour called the Epson Tour, which represents a significant step up from the domestic Hero WGPT Tour. 16 yr old Bangalorean, Avani Prashanth’s invitation to the Augusta Women’s Amateur is also a new high for Indian lady amateurs.
View this post on Instagram
Lows
- The new formula for the Official Golf World Rankings (OWGR) introduced in August this year, downgraded PGTI winners points from 5 to less than 1, making it virtually impossible for India based players to climb the world rankings, thus totally undermining the value of PGTI performances.
2. Cancellation of the Hero Indian Open for the 3rd consecutive year. After the stage was set in late March 2022 for the European Tour sanctioned US$1.75 million event to return to DLF G&CC in Gurgaon, the event was cancelled very close to the date due to Covid travel restrictions in force at the time. The Indian players and fans missed out again on the biggest event of the year.
3. Aditi Ashok lost her automatic playing rights on the LPGA Tour after keeping them for a 5 year stretch. After raising expectations with a fourth-place finish at the Olympic Games in September 2021 she did not have a single top-10 finish in USA in 2022, dropping to 99 th on the LPGA Tour and will have to get through the LPGA qualifying event again to earn her playing rights for 2023. On the bright side, Aditi is only 24 and there’s every chance she could have a bounce-back season in 2023.
Write to us at rishi@rnsportsmarketing.com and tell us what you think were other highs and lows for Indian golf in 2022 – all worthwhile suggestions will be given a mention with credits to the authors who send us their suggestions.
Credits:-
Photo – Asian Tour