The Hindu : Sport / Golf : SRF Matchplay from tomorrow

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Apr 13, 2004

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Sport - Golf

SRF Matchplay from tomorrow

By Our Sports Reporter

NEW DELHI, APRIL 12. The SRF all-India Matchplay championship, the season-ending championship, tees off at the Delhi Golf Club course here on Wednesday. There have been only 15 events so far and this championship will effectively bring the curtains down on the 2003-04 season.

For the Indian PGA Tour, the past four seasons have been really productive as it always crossed 20-plus events during its traditional August-April season. That's five tournaments less this season including the biggest championship on the calendar. This year, the Indian PGA Championship has actually been aborted, as no company was ready to shell out Rs 25 lakh plus for the title sponsorship.

This has left the Tour poorer, failing to cross even the mandatory mark of Rs. 20 million. The Order of Merit also presents a similar picture. Going into the final tournament, the leader, Ashok Kumar, has collected Rs. 7,70,260 and is closely followed by veteran Vijay Kumar (Rs. 7,55,128), who is also the defending champion.

A few seasons ago, the leader would have already crossed the Rs. 1 million mark and then there was the additional Rs. 1 million for winning the Order of Merit. So for Ashok Kumar and his ilk, the Rs. 10 lakh SRF all-India Matchplay championship, there is hardly much to look for money wise.

The top 64 ranked golfers will open the six-round championship on Wednesday and the winner on Sunday ends up with Rs. 1.75 lakh. The runner-up will earn Rs. 1 lakh.

Others who confirmed their participation were Asian PGA Tour regulars Amandeep Johl, Arjun Singh and Digvijay Singh, four-time Order of Merit winner Mukesh Kumar, S.S.P. Chowrasia and winner of the inaugural Matchplay championship, Shiv Prakash.

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