Indian Open not in Asian Tour, will get slot later: IGU

Indian golf's marquee event, the Hero Honda Indian Open, does not figure in the Asian Tour's 2011 provisional schedule announced today but the Indian Golf Union insisted that the USD 1.25 million tournament would be alloted a slot "very soon".

The Asian Tour announced its 2011 Schedule with a provisional 25 tournaments which will travel throughout Asia and as far as Switzerland.

But the calendar does not feature the Indian Open, the 47th edition of which was won by Sweden's Rikard Karlberg at the Delhi Golf Course last week.

However, IGU Director General A Parmar said that the Indian Open will get a slot soon.

"Last week, we had a meeting with the Asian Tour and they would soon be allotting a slot for the Indian Open. We want it to be held in either October last week or November first week," he said.

"We will get the dates soon. Indian Open is such an old tournament. The Asian Tour can't do without it," he added.

The Indian Open's future had been in doubt due to differences between the Asian Tour and the IGU over its scheduling.

But Parmar insisted that "all issues have been sorted out".

Meanwhile, Asian Tour Executive Chairman Kyi Hla Han said the schedule will be further boosted in the coming weeks as the Tour is in final negotiations with various sponsors and organisers for new tournaments.

Asia's elite players will play for a projected total prize fund in excess of USD 45 million next year, the highest ever in the history of Asian golf.

This will reinforce the Asian Tour as the third largest international Tour behind the PGA Tour and European Tour.

"We are delighted to announce our 2011 Schedule for our highly talented members. There will be further updates in the coming weeks as we are in advanced discussions with various parties for other tournaments to feature on our calendar," said Han.

"Through key alliances with our partners, we are moving forward at an exciting pace for the betterment of professional golf in Asia.

The Asian Tour season will begin with the all-important Qualifying School in Thailand in January with the top-40 finishers at the Final Stage earning Tour cards.