Hero Women’s Indian Open To See Largest Ever Indian Contingent

The 13th Hero Women’s Indian Open is set to return to DLF Golf and Country Club from October 3-6 this year. The tournament for the first time will see a record 25 Indian professionals and amateurs in the field. At the Press Conference, WGAI Secretary-General, Ms Champika Sayal announced that “a total of 25 Indian pros and amateurs will be fielded at the upcoming tournament to give exposure to our domestic tour players and help them earn ranking points and experience what it’s like to play in international conditions.”
It is important to note that, although there are 40 Indian lady golfers playing on the domestic tour, only 11 feature in the Women’s World Golf Rankings. 2016 Hero Women’s Indian Open winner Aditi Ashok leading them 134, courtesy her performances on the LPGA Tour. The tournament will see India’s leading amateurs teeing-off including Faldo Asia champion Pranavi Urs along with the 2018 Hero Women’s Indian Open ‘Best Amateur’ award winner Sifat Sagoo in the field.
Fans will get a chance to see youngsters like the 15-year-old amateur Sneha Singh from Hyderabad and 17-year-old Gauri Karhade from Pune, both recent winners on the domestic tour in action. This will also be a homecoming for 18-year-old LET rookie Diksha Dagar, playing her first tournament in India since her win at the Investec SA Open earlier this year.
The Women’s Indian Open is still awaiting a second Indian winner after Aditi Ashok, who achieved this feat in 2016. The only other girl from India who came close to this was Vani Kapoor in 2017, where she finished tied-6th.
The first LET edition in 2010 saw participation from 19 Indians (12 Pros and 7 Amateurs). Sharmila Nicollet was the top finisher, tied-23rd on the leaderboard with her scores of 78, 73, and 69.
The tournament originally started in 2007 as the DLF Women’s Indian Open and was won by Taiwanese Yani Tseng by a shot. The 2007 edition was played over three days, a format which was changed in 2014 to a four-day tournament. It became a three-day event in 2015 and only in 2018 did it return as a four-day tournament. The 2018 edition also had $500,000 in prize money, a 25 percent increase over the previous year, and the highest on offer yet.