Stage set for Bharat Classic Gujarat as Asian Tour returns to India

Thailand’s Ekpharit Wu will compete in the inaugural $500,000 Bharath Classic Gujarat at the Kensville resort near Ahmedabad on the back of a recent Asian Tour win in Taiwan. Image courtesy of Asian Tour.

By Rahul Banerji

Ahmedabad: The Asian Tour returns to India this week for the first time since 2023 in the form of the inaugural $500,000 Bharath Classic Gujarat at the Kensville Golf Resort near here.

A field of 120 will take part in the event co-sanctioned by the newly launched Indian Golf Premier League, with as many as 60 Indians in the field of 120. The top 65 and ties will make the 36-hole cut.

The tournament marks a return to a country that has a strong affinity with the Asian Tour, for which this is the penultimate event of the season.

The 18-hole par-72 Kensville Golf Resort is a 900-hectare estate, about 40 km from Ahmedabad, and was designed by one of India’s greatest golfers, Jeev Milkha Singh.

At the top of the field is Thailand’s Janewattananond, currently ranked 14th on the Asian Tour Order of Merit after a T2 at the GS Caltex Maekyung Open in May and three other top 10s.

The charismatic Thai topped the Asian Tour Order of Merit in 2019 after winning four events that season and has won a total of seven times, most recently the 2022 International Series Morocco.

Multiple winners

Leading the Indian charge is PGTI Ranking leader Yuvraj Sandhu, who has an impressive five wins this season, including last week at the IndianOil Servo Masters in Digboi, Assam.

Additionally, he has 11 top ten finishes this year, and also holds the numbers two and three on the PGTI money list for company in Kensville in the form of Shaurya Bhattacharya and Arjun Prasad.

The first two rounds will see Sandhu line up alongside another Asian Tour winner in India, Nitithorn Thippong, and England’s Steve Lewton.

Others to look out for are Ekpharit Wu of Thailand, winner of the Taiwan Glass Taifong Open, his first Asian Tour title, and James Piot of the US, who was part of LIV Golf in 2022 and 2023.

Interestingly, in addition to Siddikur Rahman (2013) of Bangladesh, the field also includes three previous winners of the Hero Indian Open, Indians C. Muniyappa (2009) and SSP Chawrasia (2016, 2017).

What adds an extra twist to this event is the struggle for many in the field who are keen to save their playing status on the Asian Tour, which after that only has the season-ending Saudi Open.

Also read: Sandhu is heading for a resounding victory and a third Servo Masters title

Related