'With golfers like Jeev and Bhullar, India will be a leading country in sport’

"India is one of the most important markets and hubs for the Asian Tour. We have a close working relationship with the PGTI and Indian Golf Union and India contributes four tournaments -- the Hero Indian Open, the Avantha Masters, Panasonic Open India and SAIL-SBI Open -- on the Asian Tour schedule, making it one of the largest markets by event"

Showering praise on Indian golfers like Jeev Milkha Singh and Gaganjeet Bhullar, Asian Tour CEO Mike Kerr said the Indian players have been doing well at the Asian Tour and the tour is fortunate to have such talents playing in the tour.

"We have seen the likes of Jeev Milkha Singh (twice)Jyoti Randhawa, Arjun Atwal and winning our Order of Merit. There have been other stars like Gaurav Ghei, Firoz Ali, Shiv Kapur and in recent times there has been explosion with Gaganjeet Bhullar, Anirban Lahiri, Himmat Rai, Rahil Gangjee and Digvijay Singh." said Kerr while speaking on Monday. India's success has dovetailed with the growth of the Asian Tour. Since the formation of the Asian Tour (formerly called Asian PGA) in the mid-1990s, Indians have won close to 60 titles and that is one the highest by any Asian country.

Recently another Chandigarh golfer Sujjan Singh won a title on the Asian Development Tour and Kerr believes that this will create more interest for the sponsors. "We certainly would like to stage an ADT Tournament in India very soon and Sujjan's recent triumph at the Taman Dayu Championship will create greater interests for sponsors who perhaps may not have the financial muscles yet to host a fully-fledged Asian Tour event in India. One of the attractions of the ADT is that while it is a platform for aspiring stars to cut their professional teeth, it will also will receive Official World Golf Ranking status," added Kerr. On the issue of how the Asian tour can help Indian golf and PGTI grow further, he elaborated, "That will happen as we create more platforms. The Asian Tour has certainly proven to be a tremendous career launch pad for Indian players. Jeev Milkha Singh was one of the first superstars of Asian golf and he came to the fore just as the Asian Tour was taking shape. India sees the presence of four Asian Tour tournaments with Indian Open, Avantha Masters, Panasonic Open India and SAIL-Open and India is one of the largest markets in Asia in terms of sponsorship. "India is one of the most important markets and hubs for the Asian Tour. We have a close working relationship with the PGTI and Indian Golf Union and India contributes four tournaments -- the Hero Indian Open, the Avantha Masters, Panasonic Open India and SAIL-SBI Open -- on the Asian Tour schedule, making it one of the largest markets by event," Kerr said.

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