SRF All India Professional Golf Matchplay Championship gets underway

The golfing skills of the leading professionals of the country will be tested to the hilt in the next four days with the 2008 SRF All India Professional Golf Matchplay Championship gets underway at the Delhi Golf Club here on Tuesday.

The SRF Matchplay Championship promises to be a nail-biting affair, as top professionals from the PGTI will go head-to-head in a knockout format, instead of regular 72-hole format, to fetch a winning purse of Rs. 20 Lakhs.

This prestigious tournament will have a rich field of 64 leading professionals such as defending champion Ashok Kumar, Lam Chih Bing, Digvijay Singh, Rahul Ganapathy, Mukesh Kumar, Shamim Khan, Gaganjeet Bhullar, Arjun Singh, C Muniyappa and Vivek Bhandari.

The golfers will have to make a rapid adjustment in the event as the tournament follows a knockout format, wherein matches up to the semifinal stage will be played over 18 holes while the decider will be contested over 36 holes.

Ashok Kumar, the 2006-07 PGTI Order of Merit winner and the reigning SRF All India Professional Golf Matchplay champion is looking forward to India’s premier match play event.

According to Ashok, “Last year I had a great run at this event and I am now looking to repeat that success.”

“It’s a totally different format where the margin for error is very less. One has only eighteen holes to give his best and there is no time for recovery. It all depends on how well you play on the given day,” said Ashok.

“The match play format is quite different from strokeplay in the sense that one may not be at his best but might still win if he outplays his opponent on the given day,” Ashok added.

Singapore’s Lam Chih Bing would pose a serious challenge to Ashok Kumar’s defending champion status. The 2007 Bilt Open champion would look to maintain his position at the top of the PGTI Order of Merit for 2007-08 with a win at the DGC.

Rahul Ganapathy and Mukesh Kumar, both double-winners in the current PGTI season, are also right up there among the top title contenders. Ganapathy is one of the favourites as he has been on a roll in 2007-08, having won his last two events on the PGTI.

“I have not enjoyed much success at the SRF All India Matchplay in the past. However, when I tee it up at the DGC this time, I will definitely try to turn things around. Match play is a game of nerves. In this format a player needs to keep his cool and apply as much pressure on his opponent as possible,” said Ganapathy.

Digvijay Singh, currently second on the PGTI Order of Merit for 2007-08 has a great opportunity to post his first win on the PGTI during the SRF All India Matchplay.

The 2006 SRF All India Professional Golf Matchplay Championship winner, Shamim Khan will also be a major title contender. Shamim has the ability to upstage the best as he has had a fabulous season so far, having posted four top 10s out of five starts on the PGTI.

On the event, Ajai Gupta, Tour Commissioner of the PGTI, said, “The SRF All India Professional Golf Matchplay Championship is all about the thrills and excitement of match play and is sure to bring out the best from our professionals. The PGTI is delighted to be associated with this unique tournament which has seen some very exciting finishes over the past few years.”

SRF has been involved in the oldest on-going professional event on the local circuit in India. The Bharat Ram family’s patronage of Indian professional golf began 33 years back in the form of a 72-hole strokeplay event, which was previously known as the DCM Championship and then as the SRF Open.

The SRF All India Professional Golf Matchplay Championship replaced the SRF Open in 2002. Currently, the SRF All India Professional Golf Matchplay Championship is one of the highlights of the Indian golf calendar. This event will be staged as a part of the PGTI calendar for the second time.