Loyalty is important, says Kapil Dev

NEW DELHI: When the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) announced the schedule for the first half of the season, its president Kapil Dev brought to the table a steaming cup of coffee and an announcement that provided a caffeine boost to the calendar. This time, he sipped from a glass of chilled fresh lime water. And his response to a query on the upcoming rebel franchise Indian Golf Premier League was cool as ever. “Patang koh toh udne do (Let the kite fly first).” “It’s always a pleasure when money is invested in golf. A time may come when it may work out (with the IGPL). But today it’s not possible. My job is to look after 350 professionals, theirs is to look after 20 or more. I have to see the larger picture for my team, my board, everybody. I have no problem with that but loyalty is important. People who work for ‘A’ cannot work for ‘B’,” Kapil said, as PGTI unveiled the schedule for second half of the season. The riposte also came in other numbers. The minimum of 15 tournaments between Aug and Dec will offer a combined purse of Rs 17 crore increasing the season’s prize money close to Rs 33 crore. For the record, that is an increase of Rs 8 crore from last season. The European Tour and PGTI co-sanctioned DP World India Championship will add a further $4 million to the kitty. Moreover, there are three tournaments in the second-tier NextGen series with prize money of Rs 20 lakh each. There was an array of sponsors too, with PGTI announcing new partnerships and strengthening some old ones. IGPL, meanwhile, has partnered with the Women’s Golf Association of India and the Indian Golf Union (IGU) to promise a franchise-based mixed team championship with cityowned squads. They have roped in the likes of Gaganjeet Bhullar, Shiv Kapur, SSP Chawrasia, Gaurav Ghei etc as mentors, with former cricketer Yuvraj Singh as the brand ambassador. The format is expected to be three-day events with no cuts. “Golf can be an expensive sport but this platform with provide an opportunity for the youngsters to finance themselves as money is guaranteed,” Ghei had said earlier. But PGTI CEO Amandeep Johl begs to differ. “If you’re going to be at the highest level, it has to be competitive. If you don’t create those kind of opportunities for the Indian boys and they start getting used to free money, you’re never going to create world champions who are going to go and play on the DP World Tour, the Olympics and the Asian Games and get you medals,” Johl said. “If you’re going to start giving them freebies, after a while they’re going to get so used to freebies that they will stop working hard. That way, I will be ruining their future,” he reiterated. Johl also said he and Dev had “positive discussions” with the PGA and European Tours during the British Open at Royal Portrush. “As soon as we have an announcement from them, we shall bring it all to you,” he added.