Honda-Siel tourney upgraded

NEW DELHI, SEPT. 4. The Honda-Siel PGA Championship of India, the richest tournament on the domestic golf circuit, has been upgraded as a $200,000 Asian PGA event.

The event, to be held at the Delhi Golf Club course here from November 1 to 4, is the third from the country - after the Indian Open and the Hero Honda Masters - to become part of the Asian PGA.

Making this announcement here on Tuesday, the CMD of Siel Limited, Mr. Siddharth Shriram, confirmed the new status of the championship and wished that golf would grow into the second biggest sport, after cricket, in the country.

The winner of the event, besides getting a cheque for $32,300, will also enjoy a two-year exemption on the Asian PGA Tour.

The current leader of the Asian Order of Merit, Korea's Charlie Wi, reigning Indian Open champion Thailand's Thongchai Jaidee, compatriot and winner of the Singapore Open, Thaworn Wirtchant, sentimental favourite Chiranjeev Milkha Singh and the Hero Honda Masters champions, Jyoti Randhawa and Arjun Atwal form part of the 144-player field.

Nearly 70 players from the Indian Tour are likely to be in the fray.

Besides the attractive prize-money, the first hole-in- one during the championship will be worth a Honda Accord car.

Soon after the announcement of the event, a memorabilia of India's golfing legend, I.S. Malik, was unveiled at the Maurya Sheraton's Golf Bar.

Mr. Malik won the all-India Amateurs championship for the first time, as a 48-year-old, in 1950. Again, in 1955 and 1956, he beat the field. He was the founder member of the Indian Golf Union and served as its second president during the 1957-58 term.

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