Lahiri to lead strong field at SSP Chawrasia Invitational

I never dreamt of hosting a PGTI tournament, very few people get this opportunity, the six-time Asian Tour winner said.A two-time Indian Open champion, Chawrasia has the distinction of having represented India at the Rio Olympics 2016 and the World Cup of Golf 2016.

The penultimate PGTI Tour event will now be known as SSP Chawrasia Invitational and will feature top-ranked Indian Anirban Lahiri, the organisers announced here on Tuesday.

Bangalore-based Lahiri will be back to play in Kolkata for the first time since 2013 when he had won PGTI's Year Ender Championship at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club (RCGC). Beside Lahiri and tournament host Chawrasia, the Rs 1-crore prize money event beginning on Wednesday will have a stellar field including Gaganjeet Bhullar, Rashid Khan, Ajeetesh Sandhu, Viraj Madappa, Veer Ahlawat, Karandeep Kochhar, Chikkarangappa, Udayan Mane, Yuvraj Singh Sandhu (PGTI Ranking Leader) and Manu Gandas (2nd on PGTI Ranking), among others.

The leading foreign names in the field are those of Sri Lankans Mithun Perera, N Thangaraja, Anura Rohana, as well as Bangladeshis Jamal Hossain, Badal Hossain, Md Akbar Hossain and Nepal's Sukra Bahadur Rai.

The tournament was jointly launched by TAKE Sports and PGTI as a gesture to honour Chawrasia, who among two Indians to have won four DP World Tour titles.

After the overwhelming success of Jeev Milkha Invitational, it was a ''no-brainer'' to christen the tournament in the name of Kolkata's star golfer Chawrasia, CEO of PGTI Uttam Singh Mundy said. ''I never dreamt of hosting a PGTI tournament, very few people get this opportunity,'' the six-time Asian Tour winner said.

A two-time Indian Open champion, Chawrasia has the distinction of having represented India at the Rio Olympics 2016 and the World Cup of Golf 2016. He also represented Team Asia at the EurAsia Cup in 2016 and 2018. Chawrasia, a winner of 17 professional titles, was honoured with the Arjuna Award in 2017.

''I belong to the RCGC, grew up playing golf here. It's because of everyone's contribution here that I'm sitting here representing PGTI. It's a very strong field looking forward to it,'' he added.