The Hero Women’s Indian Open, the biggest women’s pro event in the region, now past 15 years as a part of the Ladies European Tour (LET), has been pivotal in the history and rise of women’s golf in India.
The event, born as the DLF Women’s Indian Open in 2007, got a big shot in the arm, when Hero MotoCorp (then called Hero Honda) decided to become the sponsors of the event in 2010 – the year it was also co-sanctioned for the first time with the LET.
In what was an amazing coincidence, the players press conference of the 2024 Hero Women’s Indian Open, staged on October 22, was the anniversary of the first-ever women’s pro event, a four-woman Skins event, at the DLF Golf and Country Club in 2005. Almost two decades on, women’s pro golf has shown a healthy growth.
Back in 2005, India’s legendary Smriti [Simi] Mehra, India’s first representative ever on the LPGA, played a key role in getting three of her LPGA colleagues, Heather Daly Donofrio, Hilary Lunke and Celeste Trioche to come to India for a four-player Skins event.
Interestingly, the event was sponsored to the tune of $18,000 by Hero MotoCorp (then called Hero Honda). It was only right that Simi won the Skins event.
Two years later in 2007, the DLF Women’s Indian Open was born, and the first champion was Yani Tseng, whose picture adorns the walls of DLF Golf and Country Club, which was then venue, as it is now.
It was the first pro win for Yani, then 18, and who went on to amass 27 pro wins, 16 of them on LPGA including five Majors. Last week, Yani, now 35, made a rare appearance at the inaugural LET event, the Wistron Ladies Open in her home country, Taiwan. She made the cut, and the event was won by the current LET Order of Merit leader, Chiara Tamburlini, the latest star on the circuit.
A year later in 2008, India did host a one-off international women’s pro event, but it was the Women’s Indian Open that became a regular feature. It has been held every year since and was interrupted only by Covid.
Indian women’s pro golf in a manner of speaking took off in 2010 with Hero, then already the sponsors of the men’s Indian Open with the DP World Tour (then the European Tour), stepped in as the title sponsors. And there began the story of the Hero Women’s Indian Open.
The success of the 2010 Hero Women’s Indian Open spawned a professional circuit for women golfers. That circuit had its first event in 2011 with eight players and inaugural event was won by Simi Mehra. The circuit, now called the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour, has 15 events and India has about 60 women professionals of which about 40-50 play each of the events, spread across India.
That circuit, Hero WPGT, has produced and given a platform to virtually every Indian woman professional.
While Simi Mehra, once a star on the LPGA as the longest hitter, now plays only sparingly on the International Seniors Tour, the mantle has passed on to many younger stars.
This week with the exception of one, every Hero WPGT Order of Merit topper going back to 2013 is playing the 2024 Hero Women’s Indian Open. Simi Mehra won the 2011-12 and 2012 seasons’ honours and the 2013 season was won by Neha Tripathi.
From Neha Tripathi to the current 2024 OOM leader, Hitaashee Bakshi, every Merit winner, except Sneha Singh (the 2023 winner) is in the field. Sneha pulled out late as she is playing the LPGA Qualifying School in Florida this week.
From Neha to Vani (2014 to 2016) to Gaurika Bishnoi (2017 and 2019) to Tvesa Malik (2018) to Amandeep Drall (2020-21) to Pranavi Urs (2022) and now the current leader Hitaashee Bakshi, they have all been products of a Tour supported by Hero. And there’s many more waiting in line, as can be seen from this year’s entry list – 27 Indians including five amateurs.
From an odd Indian representation on the LET as it was with Sharmila Nicollet and then Aditi Ashok, there are a least half a dozen Indians with some kind status on the LET.
India had its first LET winner at the HWIO in 2016 in Aditi, who has since four five more times, and in 2018 Diksha Dagar became the second by winning in South Africa and added a second title in 2023 in the Czech Republic.
Meanwhile, Vani, Amandeep, Tvesa, Pranavi and Gaurika have all been knocking on the doors of victory with excellent finishes ranging from runner-up to Top-10.
Time is not far when Indian women contend each week on the LET and then the LPGA soon.
Yes, it all began with the Hero Women’s Indian Open, which now celebrates the 2024 edition with a purse $400,000.
