New Delhi: India is set to savour a busy run of top-class golf on the Asian Tour as the fifth edition of the SAIL Open will return to this year's schedule, rechristened as the SAIL-SBI Open.
The SAIL-SBI Open will offer a prize fund of USD 300,000 and will be played at the Delhi Golf Club for the third straight year. The event will be played next week from February 22 to 25.
The SAIL-SBI Open is sanctioned by the Asian Tour and Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI). Thailand's Chapchai Nirat had set a 72-hole scoring record with a stunning 32-under 256 winning total in the 2009 edition played at the Classic Golf Resort, just outside the Indian capital.
In the following season, Rikard Karlberg of Sweden capped a sensational rookie year when his victory at the event propelled him to an Indian double as he went on to win the Indian Open.
Meanwhile, sensational Thai youngster Kiradech Aphibarnrat claimed a watershed triumph last year in what was his first Asian Tour victory of his fledgling career and, after losing in a play-off at last week's Myanmar Open, appears to be in good form to defend his title.
"We are delighted to be once again, staging this annual international event which promotes the sporting culture in the country. With SAIL increasing its global footprint steadily, we are delighted that this event attracts participation from over 20 nationalities and the Asian Tour's television exposure of the tournament will cover the globe," CS Verma, chairman, Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) said.
Pratip Chaudhary, chairman, State Bank of India, said, "We enjoy a very strong relationship with our partner SAIL and are pleased to further strengthen our association by collaborating on the SAIL-SBI Open."
Asian Tour Executive chairman, Kyi Hla Han, lauded the return of the SAIL-SBI Open on the Asian Tour calendar.
"The Asian Tour has been well received in India and the popularity of our events has continued to grow among India's avid golf fans, especially with the emergence of new stars, each of whom have scored at least one victory on the Asian Tour such as Anirban Lahiri, Gaganjeet Bhullar and Himmat Rai," said Han.
"This year with Jyoti Randhawa and Shiv Kapur also in the field, the Indian challenge will be stronger than ever."
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