NEW DELHI: Some of India’s leading golfers Gaganjeet Bhullar, Jeev Milkha Singh, Shiv Kapur and SSP Chawrasia won’t be allowed to tee-off in the forthcoming ‘72 The League’, a multi-city, franchise-based national league launched by the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI), the controlling federation for professional golf in India, on Thursday here.
The PGTI has imposed a prohibition on their participation for competing in the rival private league – Indian Golf Premier League (IGPL), backed by former international cricketer Yuvraj Singh.
In Sept last, the PGTI issued show-cause notices to 17 golfers, including Bhullar, for featuring in the IGPL at Jaypee Greens, Greater Noida, from Sept 17-19, an event that clashed with its own Chennai Open tournament. Other names on the list included Aman Raj, Harendra Gupta, Karandeep Kochhar and Sachin Baisoya.
All 17 golfers will not be allowed to compete at the PGTI-sanctioned league, scheduled across three Delhi-NCR courses – Classic Golf and Country Club, Jaypee Greens and Qutab Golf Course – from Feb 21 to March 6 next year. These golfers will not be part of the auction pool for the league, and their names will not be shared with prospective franchises.
The players, after being served the show-cause notice, had described the move as “suspension” by the PGTI. However, PGTI president Kapil Dev took a different line during the launch. “There was no suspension, no ban in place for golfers (who played in the IGPL),” he told the gathering.
PGTI officials told TOI that the only pathway available for these players to compete in the league was to follow the due process which included “ensuring they won’t compete in a conflicting/rival league at the same time when the PGTI’s events are underway, take necessary permission and release clearance from the PGTI to play in the conflicting/rival league, writing a letter to the PGTI expressing their interest to play in the sanctioned league, appear before the PGTI’s disciplinary committee to explain reasons for defecting to the IGPL and commit to the PGTI’s calendar of tournaments”.
“The PGTI will then take an informed decision and look at the golfers’ rankings (Order of Merit) to take them back into the fold,” the official said.
These golfers also run the risk of losing their PGTI membership, as officials explained. “PGTI is a registered society which has around 350 professional golfers as its members. Every year, the membership is renewed. For those who continue to feature in the IGPL without seeking the requisite clearance or continue participating in rival tournaments whose dates are clashing with that of PGTI’s events, their membership won’t be renewed. So, you can very well understand, all those playing in the IGPL will automatically have their PGTI membership cancelled, and they won’t be able to compete in any PGTI event in future,” the official said.
However, other professional golfers such as Gaurav Pratap Singh, Gurki Shergill, Shankar Das, Bikramjit Singh Sandhu, Arjun Sharma, Rohit Baisoya, Jairaj Singh Sandhu, Varun Parikh, Arjun Prasad, Shaurya Bhattacharya, Yuvraj Sandhu, Dhruv Sheoran, Saptak Talwar, Joshua Seale and Kshitij Naveed Kaul, who played in various IGPL tournaments since the launch of its Tour in Sept last, will be allowed to participate in the PGTI-sanctioned league.
“They sought clearance from the PGTI to play in the IGPL. There was no clash of dates with the PGTI events, so the permission was granted. These players went there (IGPL), came back, and now they are competing in the Vishwa Samudra Open tournament, currently underway at the DGC. These players, along with others, will be part of the auction pool, as they remain part of the PGTI family,” the official added.
The IGPL, which is backed by the Indian Golf Union (IGU) and the Women’s Golf Association of India (WGAI), is set to bring its own league in Jan 2026. The league has been described as India’s “LIV Golf moment” for the financial incentives it offers.
Earlier this year, golfer Sachin Basoiya petitioned the Delhi high court, seeking relief and direction from the judiciary to allow him to compete in third-party tournaments, particularly the IGPL. Basoiya approached the court fearing that PGTI’s rules might prevent him from participating in the IGPL, potentially leading to a ban or suspension by the golf body. The court had, in Aug last, ruled in favour of Basoiya and ordered that permission be granted for participation in any third-party tournaments.
Several other golfers have taken a similar legal recourse, approaching the Delhi HC, and the cases are being heard.
Key details of the ‘72 The League’
-- Total 60 golfers
-- 6 Teams
-- 6 crore overall purse for six franchises
-- 1 crore to be spent by each franchise on buying golfers
-- Rs 5 crore estimated prize purse
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