The Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI), currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Tata Steel Professional Golf Tour of India, is a

professional golf tour Professional golf tours are the means by which otherwise unconnected Professional golfer, professional golf tournaments are organised into a regular schedule. There are separate tours for men and women; most are based in a specific geographical reg ...

for men based in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. The tour was formed in 2006, as the successor to the Indian PGA Golf Tour, which ran from 1997 to 2006. The PGTI serves as a feeder tour for higher level tours such as the

Asian Tour The Asian Tour is the principal men's professional golf tour in Asia except for Japan, which has its own Japan Golf Tour, which is also a full member of the International Federation of PGA Tours. Official money events on the tour count for Wo ...

. Many Indian players have become members of the Asian Tour, while a small number have joined the world's leading two tours, the

European Tour The European Tour (currently known as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons), legally the PGA European Tour is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European Senior Tour (for players aged fi ...

and the United States-based

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also ...

. The PGTI became a member of the

International Federation of PGA Tours Professional golf tours are the means by which otherwise unconnected professional golf tournaments are organised into a regular schedule. There are separate tours for men and women; most are based in a specific geographical region, although some to ...

in 2009, but its events did not carry Official World Golf Ranking points unless they were co-sanctioned by tours that are included in the world ranking system. In July 2018, the OWGR announced that the PGTI would receive world ranking points in its own right beginning in 2019.

History

India's

Royal Calcutta Golf Club Royal Calcutta Golf Club (RCGC) in Kolkata, India was established in 1829 and is the oldest golf club in India and the first outside Great Britain. RCGC has an 18-hole golf course with the following detail: *Yardage: 7195/6871 *Par: 72 *Ratin ...

was founded in 1829 and is usually regarded as the oldest outside the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. In the early years Indian golf with dominated by British players and it was not until 1949 that Mohinder Bal became the first Indian to win the All-India Amateur Championship. The Indian Golf Union (IGU) was founded in 1955 to take over responsibility for Indian Golf, which had previously been largely in the hands of the Royal Calcutta Golf Club. The sport was still dominated by amateurs at that point, but most of them were now Indian. In 1957 the IGU started a training program for caddies and professionals. In 1964 the Indian Open (open to both amateurs and professionals), was established and it soon replaced the All-India Amateur as the leading golf tournament in the country. Australian and five time

British Open The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later th ...

champion

Peter Thomson Peter Thomson may refer to: * Peter Thomson (golfer) (1929–2018), Australian golfer * Peter Thomson (diplomat) (born 1948), Fiji's Permanent Representative to the United Nations * Peter Thomson (footballer) (born 1977), English footballer * Peter ...

used to stop over in India on his way from Australia to Europe, and he won the championship in 1964, 1966 and 1976. P. G. Sethi (an amateur) was the first Indian to win this tournament in 1965. In 1970 the Indian Open became part of the Asia Golf Circuit, the predecessor of the

. In 1991 Ali Sher (a professional golfer) won the Indian Open, which made professional golf a much more attractive career option in India. The Professional Golfers Association of India was founded in 1988 and several additional professional events were founded in India in the 1990s. From 1997 to 2006, the PGA of India Tour was managed by Tiger Sports Marketing on behalf of the PGA of India. Total prize money for the 2004/05 season was ( at 31 December 2004 exchange rate). There were around 20 events in the season, including tournaments in Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. In October 2006 a group of leading Indian golfers including

Jyoti Randhawa Jyotinder Singh Randhawa (born 4 May 1972) is an Indian professional golfer. He plays on the Asian Tour where he won eight times between 1998 and 2009. He was ranked in the top 100 of the Official World Golf Ranking several times between 2004 ...

and

Gaurav Ghei Gaurav Ghei (born 25 September 1968) is an Indian professional golfer who plays on the Asian Tour. He turned professional in 1991. His wins include three Asian Tour titles: the 1995 Gadgil Western Masters, the 2006 Taiwan Masters, and the 2007 B ...

announced that they were setting up a new tour. This followed a dispute between the Professional Golfers Association of India and Tiger Sports Marketing, the organisers of the PGA of India Tour. The BBC reported that it was not clear whether this tour would simply take the place of the existing tour, or whether rival tours might develop. In the event, the new tour, the Professional Golf Tour of India, took over as India's sole domestic professional tour, though Tiger Sports Marketing remained involved in other aspects of Indian golf. The PGTI's schedule expanded rapidly in its first few seasons. In 2010 there were twenty-five events on the main schedule, including two co-sanctioned with the Asian Tour and one co-sanctioned with the European Tour, plus seven events on the Feeder Tour, which debuted that year. In 2011 the tour co-sanctioned an event with the European Tour's developmental circuit, the

Challenge Tour The Challenge Tour is the second-tier men's professional golf tour in Europe. It is operated by the PGA European Tour and, as with on the main European Tour and the European Senior Tour, some of the events are played outside Europe. History T ...

, for the first time. In December 2022, it was announced by the

that the Professional Golf Tour of India had entered into a partnership with them and the

. As part of the partnership, the leading player on the PGTI Order of Merit was given status onto the European Tour for the following season.

Order of Merit winners

Professional Golf Tour of India

PGA of India Tour

Notes

References

External links

* {{Men's Professional Golf Tours Golf in India Professional golf tours 2006 establishments in India