Young Indian Golfers Set to Shine in Inaugural PGTI 72 The League

With the likes of upcoming talents Shaurya Bhattacharya and Kartik Singh in attendance, along with seasoned pros Honey Baisoya, Manu Gandas, Ajeetesh Sandhu and Viraj Madappa, the event saw a coming together of a wide spectrum of professionals as the opening season of 72 The League formally came into being. Kartik Singh, the youngest player in 72 The League, expressed his thrill to be in his first PGTI season and was honoured to join 72 The League, thanking PGTI and Mumbai Aces for the chance. Singh said he's eager to score points for his team and excited to play alongside and compete with India's golfing legends in the upcoming weeks.

"I'm very excited. This is my first year on the PGTI, so I'm really honoured to have been selected for 72 the League. I'm really grateful to PGTI and Mumbai Aces for giving me this opportunity. I'm looking forward to hopefully getting some points for my team... It feels really good playing with and being in the company of some of the legends of our country and competing with the best golfers and all of the legends who have played Indian golf. It will be really good, and I'm looking forward to competing with them in the coming weeks," Kartik Singh told ANI.

Arjun Atwal expressed gratitude to be the brand ambassador for '72 The League' and wants to help grow golf in India. He believes it's time to elevate the sport, and with his involvement, he hopes to showcase India's talent and push for Olympic medals in golf.

"I feel honoured that they asked me to be the brand ambassador for '72 the league'. I wanted to come back to India anyway to promote golf in a big way, and this allowed me to do that... It's time that we take golf to a different level in this country, and I need to get involved a little bit more because I can now give time to developing golf in India, and I want everybody in the Indian government to realise that this is one of the sports that we can medal every time in the Olympics. We have so much talent in this country," Arjun Atwal told ANI.

The glittering trophy that will be handed over to the eventual winners of the league was unveiled by Jay Shah, Chairman, ICC, in the presence of Kapil Dev, President, PGTI. The 72 The League trophy has been designed by the internationally acclaimed artist and designer, Vibhor Sogani, known for his innovative public art installations and contributions to the field of design.

The inaugural edition of the league will be held across courses in Delhi-NCR -- ITC Classic Golf & Country Club, Jaypee Greens, and Qutab Golf Course, with the first day being played on February 24 at the ITC Classic course.

Set to be played in a unique matchplay format, the league will feature six teams, each with ten professional golfers. The league aims to leverage the fine form of Indian professionals while giving them the rare opportunity for the Indian golfers to play singles, fourballs and foursome formats, something many of them haven't yet played at a professional level.

The quality of competition promises to test the teams with most golfers entering the competition on the back of solid individual performances.

Honey Baisoya, the most expensive buy of the league at Rs 20.50 lakh and part of the Nava Raipur team, currently leads the PGTI Order of Merit and is coming off a win at the DP World Players Championship at Qutub Golf Course earlier this month after opening his season with a third-place finish at the SECL Chhattisgarh Open Golf Championship in the first week of February.

- ANI