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About Tournament
| BACKGROUND OF WOMEN'S GOLF IN INDIA |
| Rise of Hero Women’s Indian Open and Women’s Pro Golf in India |
| The Hero Women’s Indian Open, now in its sixth year, is the ultimate proof of the rapid strides Women’s Professional Golf has taken in India. It attracts the very best of talent from two continents – Europe and Asia and it is now one of the most eagerly awaited and the penultimate stop on both the Ladies European and Ladies Asian Golf Tours. It’s timing makes it even more exciting because the race for Order of Merit on both Tours gets more intense here. The Hero Women’s Indian Open as sanctioned by the Ladies Asian Golf Tour (LAGT) right from its inception in 2007, and it was in 2010, that the prestigious Ladies European Tour (LET) also co-sanctioned it, adding further luster to the event. In terms of money, the tournament, which began with a prize purse of US $ 100,000 in 2007, has now become worth US $ 300,000. To put the purse in perspective, the men’s Indian Open did not exceed a purse of US $ 120,000 for almost two decades. It reached US $ 300,000 after more than three and a half decades. Only after Hero took it over did it move from US $ 300,000 to 400,000 to half a million and a Million and more in last five years. In terms of the field that the event attracts, it has seen the emergence of multiple Major winner Yani Tseng, the winner of the inaugural DLF Women’s Indian Open. Since then legendary players like Laura Davies, who won the Hero Women’s Indian Open in 2010, and other emerging and established players have figured at the event. They include the likes Gwladys Nocera, winner of the first-ever Ladies European Tour sanctioned event in 2008, Phatlum Pornanong, now an LPGA player, who has twice won the Indian Open, Money List winners and leaders like Lee-Ann Pace, Caroline Hedwall and the 2012 Money leader, Carlota Ciganda have featured in the event. On the domestic front, there is no denying that growth of women’s golf has been phenomenal in the last few years. From, scratch, the Women’s Golf Association of India has grown to 10 events (in 2012), which is expected to 15 in 2013. The prize money too has escalated with some Major events carrying as much as Rs. 10 lakhs and all events offering a minimum of Rs, five lakhs. The sponsors of the Women’s Professional Tour in India is also Hero MotoCorp. Even though the Women’s pro golf in India is still in its infancy, not many countries in Asia, barring Japan and South Korea, have an established and a spread out domestic Tour like Women’s Golf Association of India has managed to set up. In the years to come, women’s golf is only bound to grow as youngsters who have taken to the game recently become better and better to take on their more experienced rivals in the other parts of the world. |
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