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DP World extends partnership with India C'ship till 2035
The logistics major—title partners of the European Tour as well as the domestic PGTI—hopes to boost the golf ecosystem in India, its country head said.
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The DP World India Championship will run at least till 2035, it was announced at the conclusion of the second installment of the competition that concluded at the Delhi Golf Club on Sunday with Spain's Eugenio Chacarra winning by two shots.
The tournament brought the best field ever assembled for a golf tournament to the country, including three of the four major winners of the year along with defending champion Tommy Fleetwood. The $4 million competition is the most lucrative tournament ever hosted in Asia, and promises to significantly raise India's profile in global golfing ecosystem.
For logistics major DP World — title partners of the European Tour as well as the domestic PGTI — the ambition in Indian golf extends well beyond staging a tournament of this scale. "We are not sponsors; we are partners. We have real skin in this game. Sponsorship is typically a year to a year, but a partnership is a little longer, where you have skin in the game, where you walk the talk," DP World's country head Hemant Kumar Ruia told HT on the sidelines of the tournament.
DP World, Ruia insisted, wishes to build an ecosystem in India that nurtures domestic talent, broadens the sport's reach and creates a pathway for Indian golfers to compete with the best in the world. "It is central to our business objectives," he said.
“Unlike that old poem which went, ‘the twain shall never meet’, here the twain is meeting. The business and sports, we are trying to make them meet. We want to connect India to India and also India to the world. There's no better way to do that other than golf which speaks a universal language,” Ruia added.
While the partnership with PGTI promises to provide the domestic game with the support and competitive ecosystem it needs, the DP World India Championship offers Indian golfers a chance to compete against the best on home soil.
“We are connecting India to the rest of the world through a competition of this scale, whereas with the partnership with PGTI, we are connecting India to India. We hope to give a big boost to the domestic talent,” he said.
Among the immediate results of PGTI-DP World alliance is domestic tour pledging to increase the prize money next season, taking professional and NextGen tournaments to tier-2 cities, bringing Asian Development Tour events to India and encouraging Indian pros to play on the overseas challenger tours by way of financial assistance.
“We certainly want to create an ecosystem for the domestic talent to grow. And when we connect them to the rest of the world, when we et the stars to come to showcase their skills, it will inspire people to up their game,” Ruia said.
India's economic potential, demographic dividend and expanding manufacturing and logistics sectors make it a key market for the company. But the group's interest in golf, Ruia said, is also rooted in the opportunity to contribute to the development of the markets in which it operates.
“When we work in a geography, we also want to uplift the geography as a social need. So, golf is one such sport which we believe can connect us to our customers, and we can grow the game at a grassroots level,” he said.
The company is also looking to create greater continuity across the professional golf calendar. Ruia described the DP World India Championship as a bridge between the PGTI season and the Race to Dubai, the season-long competition on the DP World Tour.
The intention is to create a seamless progression from domestic competition to an international stage, strengthening the connection between Indian professionals and the global game.
As for whether DP World's initial three-year commitment to the India Championship could be extended, Ruia stopped short of making a firm announcement. He stressed that the larger objective was to sustain the sport and help it grow at the grassroots, with the tournament's reach and its ability to inspire future players serving as important measures of success.
“Look at what is happening here today. Look at the crowd that is there. I think that is what is more important,” he said.
"Who knows, one of the kids watching Rory McIlroy on the course or on TV may go on to follow his footsteps."
