For the second year running, the pandemic has consumed Indian golf’s flagship event, the Hero Indian Open, yet again. Scheduled to take place from October 28-31, the national Open has been cancelled due to the ongoing threat in the country posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a statement released on Friday, the European Tour confirmed the development. It read: “With the safety of everyone involved in the tournament being the main priority and travel to and from India remaining challenging, the decision has been taken following consultation with the Indian Golf Union, the Asian Tour and the tournament title sponsor Hero MotoCorp Ltd.
The European Tour will look to schedule a replacement tournament in the final week of October but there are no definitive plans as to where that will be at this stage.”
Normally scheduled in March at the DLF Golf and Country Club every year, the onset of the first wave of the pandemic led to the $1.5million co-sanctioned event being cancelled in consultation with the stakeholders. Keeping the situation in mind, a window was kept in October this year in the hope of the situation getting better but all efforts have been in vain.
The Women’s Hero Indian Open too went that way in 2020 but there was hope his year till the second wave struck and India became one of the worst hit by the virus.
With this announcement by the European Tour, it remains to be seen if the women’s event scheduled to be held at the same venue from September 30 to October 3 meets the same fate. A marquee event on the Ladies European Tour, the prize purse on offer this year is $500,000.
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