Jamshedpur, Dec 13 (IANS): Top golfers like Shubhankar Sharma, Gaganjeet Bhullar, Jyoti Randhawa, and Olympians SSP Chawrasia and Udayan Mane will be among the big attractions and among top contenders for the handsome prize purse of Rs 1.5 crore for the TATA Steel Tour Championship to be held at Beldih and Golmuri golf courses here from December 16 to December 19.
The TATA Steel Tour Championship is the season-ending event of the 2020-2021 PGTI season. The tournament is a 72-hole stroke-play championship and there will be no cut applied. There is guaranteed prize money for all participants. The Pro-Am event preceding the tournament will be played on December 14.
The event will comprise four rounds, half the field will play their first nine holes at Golmuri and the second nine at Beldih while the other half will play their first nine at Golmuri and the second nine at Beldih. From round two onwards, the leading/front half of the leaderboard (leading groups as per the scores) will play their first nine holes at Golmuri and the second nine at Beldih. according to a press release by the PGTI on Monday.
The tournament will feature a glittering field including some of the biggest names in Indian golf such as defending champion Bhullar (10 international wins), Randhawa (nine international wins), Olympian SSP Chawrasia (6 international wins), Shubhankar Sharma (2 international wins) and Olympian Udayan Mane (2019 champion). The field will also feature the top-60 from the PGTI Order of Merit with the prominent names being PGTI Order of Merit leader Karandeep Kochhar, Rashid Khan, Khalin Joshi, Viraj Madappa, Chikkarangappa S, Yuvraj Singh Sandhu, Aman Raj, Veer Ahlawat, and Manu Gandas, to name a few.
Two-time European Tour winner and former Asia No. 1 Shubhankar Sharma, returns to play in Jamshedpur after five years. Shubhankar, a European Tour regular, last played in Jamshedpur at the 15th TATA Open 2016, an event he went on to win. Sharma will also be playing a PGTI event for the first time since February 2020.
The tournament will decide the PGTI Order of Merit champion for the 2020-2021 season, a race that is likely to be a closely-contested one.