Hero Indian Open

The Hero Indian Open is a golf tournament on the Asian Tour that has been held for several years at the Delhi Golf Club.

The inaugural event was held in 1964 and won by Peter Thomson of Australia, who was the inspiration behind the event. Thomson used to stop off in India whilst travelling worldwide to play and soon realised the potential for golf and that the best way to promote it would be an international tournament. It was this insight that persuaded the Indian Golf Union to establish the Indian Open. Thompson continued to play in the event and won again in 1966 and 1976 a record. His three wins has only been equalled by Jyoti Randhawa in 2007.

The first home-bred winner was amateur Prem Gopal (Billoo) Sethi, who in 1965 won by seven strokes, and still remains the only amateur winner. It was not until 1991, when Ali Sher became champion, that India had another winner; he won again in 1993. Since then Indians Firoz Ali (1998), Arjun Atwal (1999), Jyoti Randhawa (2000, 2006, and 2007) and Vijay Kumar (2002) have all won.

In 1970 the Indian Open became part of the Asia Golf Circuit and as a result the field increased in strength with notable winners such as three time major champion Payne Stewart.

There have been a number of sponsors over the years, with Hero Honda Motors Ltd taking over sponsorship in 2005. The prize fund for 2009 increased to US$1.25 million. It and the Iskandar Johor Open in Malaysia, which has the same prize fund, were as of 2011^[update] the events with the largest prizes sanctioned solely by the Asian Tour. The Singapore Open had held the distinction with a US$5 million purse, but it became co-sanctioned by the European Tour from 2009.

Winners

External links

• Official site
• Coverage on the Asian Tour's official site
• Indian Golf Union