NEW DELHI : The second edition of The DGC Open will be held at the Delhi Golf Club from March 16-19, 2023, the organisers announced here on Wednesday.The tournament, which in its very inaugural year was voted as the third best event on the 20-event schedule of the Asian Tour in the 'Players Tournament of the Year', will also see a massive enhancement of the prize purse, which goes up USD 500,000 to USD 750,000, a 50 per cent increase in the prize money.
The event last year was won by Thailand's Nitithorn Thippong, who had dashed Indian hopes as he pipped Ajeetesh Sandhu to the post by edging him out in a playoff after a thrilling finish. Since then, he has added a win from the International Series Singapore and finished fourth on the year-end Asian Tour Order of Merit. Nitithorn is all set to return this year as well as he looks to defend his title at the tournament.
The field will have 132 players and players from around 25 countries are expected for the week.
"As the home of Indian golf with such a rich history and legacy, Delhi Golf Club has always believed in promoting excellence in golf and when we embarked on the journey of constituting our own Asian Tour event last year, it was a step in that direction.
"It is really exciting to see The DGC Open presented by Mastercard growing and becoming bigger in its second edition with increased prize money. I would like to thank Mastercard India for their continued support and Asian Tour for being wonderful partners," said KK Bajoria, President, Delhi Golf Club in a media release.
Meanwhile, Indian players will look forward to the event as it gave them a lot of success with Ajeetesh Sandhu, a former winner on Asian Tour, coming close to adding a second Asian Tour title to his collection last year. He was runner-up while Gaganjeet Bhullar was fourth.
Bhullar, later in the season, became the first Indian to amass 10 titles on the Asian Tour, when he won the Mandiri Indonesia Open. He was also the top Indian on the Asian Tour Order of Merit at 14th position.