NEW DELHI: European Tour winners like England's Simon Dyson, Northern Ireland's Gareme McDowell and Scotland's Andrew Coltart form part of the creamy layer in the $400,000 Hero Honda Indian Open golf championship that opens at the Delhi Golf Club here from October 19 to 22.

The prize-money, up by $100,000 from last year, makes it the richest ever Open in the country since its inception in 1964.

Jyoti Randhawa, winner in 2000, and Shiv Kapur will the leading Indian contenders along with last year's runner-up Gaurav Ghei and other Asian Tour regulars like Amandeep Johl and Rahil Gangjee.

Notable absentees among the Indians will be the 1999 winner Arjun Atwal and Jeev Milkha Singh. Atwal is scheduled to figure in an USPGA event in Orlando while on the same dates, Jeev is due to play on the Japanese Tour.

The field will also have defending champion Thailand's Thaworn Wiratchant. A clear picture of those in the fray is expected to appear a week before the event.

Addressing mediapersons here on Thursday, Hero Honda's CEO and Managing Director Pawan Munjal reminded the gathering that his company had kept its promise and raised the prize-money. He also announced that, like last year, the event would be covered live at the weekend on the ESPN-Star Sports network.

The 28-year-old Dyson won the KLM Open and Jakarta HSBC Indonesia Open this year. He was also the winner of the Asian Tour Order of Merit in 2000.

Coltart, though going through a lean patch, is expected to be a big draw. A member of the Ryder Cup team in 1999, Coltart was a member of the 1995 Alfred Dunhill Cup winning team from Scotland. This 36-year-old's last triumph on the European Tour came in the 2001 Great North Open.

McDowell's maiden title on the European Tour came following only his fourth start in the 2002 Scandinavian Masters. In 2004, he finished sixth on the Order of Merit after winning the Telecom Italia Open.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail