The Ladies European Tour returns to India for the first time in three years this week, as 114 gear up to compete in the Hero Women’s Indian Open.
With the last two iterations of the event postponed due to Covid-19, it is a welcome return to DLF Golf and Country Club in Gurugram, on the outskirts of New Delhi.
The players will be battling it out for a prize fund of USD $400,000 when play gets underway on Thursday 20 October, with the 72-hole event commencing on Sunday 23rd October.
Reigning champion Christine Wolf will be present to try and defend her crown as the LET makes its way East this week, with the Austrian taking a three-shot victory last time we visited the spectacular sights of South Asia.
Wolf won’t be the only former champion teeing it up this week, with 2017 victor Camille Chevalier looking for another strong performance around this track, as well as 2011 winner Caroline Hedwall.
And who can forget Aditi Ashok’s famous victory back in 2016? As she became the first Indian player to take victory on home soil as an 18-year-old, much to the delight of the home crowd.
Four winners from the 2022 season will be making their way to India to compete for top prize this week, with Åland 100 Ladies Open by Ålandsbanken champion Anne-Charlotte Mora ready to perform, as well as Jabra Ladies Open winner Tiia Koivisto.
Australian Women’s Classic victor Meghan MacLaren will also be in attendance, as will Madrid Ladies Open winner Ana Peláez Trivino.
Two of the 2021 Race to Costa Del Sol top five will be in action this week, with Sanna Nuutinen and Olivia Cowan keen to showcase their abilities on the LET once again after spending the majority of the season competing in the United States.
Sweden’s Johanna Gustavsson is the highest ranked player in this year’s Order of Merit to be playing this week – currently ranked third after a string of strong performances this year, and will be looking to cement that position with another good showing this tine around.
With just three events remaining on the 2022 schedule the race to finish in the top ten of this year’s Order of Merit is looking likely to go down to the wire, with Tiia Koivisto (11th) and Whitney Hillier (12th) looking to gain some valuable points this week with tenth-placed Liz Young taking the week off.
There will be plenty of local talent on show this week at DLF Golf and Country Club, with 35 members of the Women’s Golf Association of India also hoping to get their hands on the trophy at the end of the week.
No fewer than 30 Indian players will be looking to make their mark at their home event this week, including the aforementioned Ashok, as well as Tvesa Malik, Diksha Dagar, Vani Kapoor and Amandeep Drall.
Also among the local stars will be 18-year-old Sneha Singh, who took top spot in last week’s Pre Qualifier Event held at Classic Golf and Country Club in New Delhi, and thereby earning herself a spot at the LET Final Qualifier event at La Manga Club in December.
Find out more about the rise of women’s golf in India here in a special BBC programme charting the sport’s progress in a nation of 1.2 billion people.
Follow all the action on @LETGolf on Instagram and Twitter and Ladies European Tour on Facebook and YouTube – #RaiseOurGame #HWIO2022.
