Digboi (Assam), Nov 15 (IANS): Top stars of the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) like Olympian Udayan Mane, Khalin Joshi, defending champion Yuvraj Singh Sandhu, Mukesh Kumar, Shamim Khan and a few known foreign stars will be in action in the 22nd edition of Servo Masters Golf Tournament, which will be held here from Wednesday.

The longest-running event in the country and on PGTI Tour which will be played at the scenic Digboi Golf Links will have an increased prize purse this year, increased from Rs 60 lakh to Rs 75 lakh. The Pro-Am event will be held on 20th November.

The event, sponsored by IndianOil, will feature a field of 120 players including 118 professionals and two amateurs. The top 50 players and ties will make the cut after round two.

Among the top professionals that will feature in the event include Manu Gandas, Shankar Das, Harendra Gupta and National Games silver medallist Abhinav Lohan (individual event) and Trishul Chinnappa (team event) and bronze medallists Sunhit Bishnoi (individual event) and Sachin Baisoya (team event).

The foreign challenge would be led by Sri Lankans Mithun Perera, N. Thangaraja, Anura Rohana and K. Prabagaran, Bangladesh's Md Akbar Hossain as well as Nepal's Sukra Bahadur Rai.

The local challenge will be led by Digboi-based players including professionals Biren Karmakar, Deven Bhumij, Sunil Mura, Dulal Kalowar and Deepraj Chetia as well as amateurs Alok Barua and Naveen Kumar Kisalay.

This year's tournament will be a landmark one as it will be telecast Live for the first time ever on PGTI's Social Media platform thereby showcasing the tournament and the magnificent Digboi Golf Links to a wider audience across the globe.

K K Sarma, Chief General Manager & Refinery Head, IOCL (AOD) Digboi Refinery, said, "Promotion of sports in India has always been at the core of IndianOil's philosophy. The support to Indian professional golf and the staging of the IndianOil SERVO Masters Golf is an integral part of our vision for the growth of sports in India. We welcome leading professionals from India and abroad to the historic and picturesque Digboi Golf Links for the longest-running tournament on the Indian professional circuit.

"We are extremely excited about the Live Telecast this year which will help in further popularizing the event as it will be seen by a much larger audience across the country," he added.

Uttam Singh Mundy, CEO, PGTI, said, "We thank the Indian Oil Corporation for their unflinching support to Indian professional golf for more than two decades. We turn a new leaf this week with the first-ever Live Telecast of the historic IndianOil SERVO Masters Golf. This new development is set to give a major boost to golf in the North-Eastern region as the pristine Digboi Golf Links will be showcased to viewers across the country. We wish the players all the best."

The venue, the picturesque Digboi Golf Links, is a golfer's delight. The course is one of its kind in terms of ambience as it is situated among the lush tea estates and thick forest of eastern Assam.

The historic Digboi Golf Links is bordered by the Dehing forest reserve on three sides and the magnificent Patkai range of mountains on the fourth. This par-72 course with a yardage of 6329 could also be termed as the best in the northeastern part of the country due to its magnificent layout.