Hampstead Open from April 19

By Our Sports Reporter

NEW DELHI, APRIL 13. For Gurgaon's DLF Golf and Country Club, which will stage for the first time an event on the Wills Sport Indian Golf Tour, the timing for hosting the inaugural edition of the Rs. 12- lakh J. Hampstead Open tournament, from April 19 to 22, would not have been better.

Even as the Indian PGA Tour is on threshold of closing the curtains for the current season, the suspense continues about who will become the `Mahindras Golfer of the year'. The current season may round off with a match-play format event, which is yet to be confirmed. Whether that event comes about or not, the race for the coveted `golfer of the year' award is at its climactic stage.

In a three-way race for the top spot after 20 events, former Indian Open winner Feroz Ali, who nudged ahead of the rest to the top after claiming the SRF Open last week, holds a slender three- point lead over Mhow's Mukesh Kumar at 253 points.

Vijay Kumar, whose reign at the top for the last two years is under threat, follows the duo with 242 points. Vijay's current form will be a concern as his last victory came in the Wills Eastern Open, which was nine tournaments earlier.

Apart from the winner's prize-money of Rs. 1,94,400 in this tournament, the performance may well prove significant for the `Mahindras golfer of the year' award, which carries with it, a rich purse of Rs. 7,00,000. The fortunes of Feroz Ali, Mukesh Kumar and Vijay Kumar on the Arnold Palmer-designed course would be keenly followed.

The trio has won three titles apiece this season, and in case any of the three, emerges victorious on April 22, it entitles them for 15 bonus points apart from 20 for a win.

In all, 100 professionals, including nine of the top ten as per the current order of merit, have confirmed their participation. The exception is Amritinder Singh but the notable absence will be of reigning Indian Open winner Jyoti Randhawa, who is in Japan for the Kirin Open.

The other attractions include twice Indian Open winner Ali Sher, fresh from his runner-up display in the SRF Open and Delhi's Gaurav Ghei, who has performed consistently after his win in the Rs. 20 lakh Wills Masters tournament earlier this year.

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