Key Points

European Ryder Cup star Fleetwood makes a long-awaited return to India for the inaugural DP World India Championship, teeing it up in Delhi for the first time since 2016.

The Englishman was named European Number One after topping the Race to Dubai Rankings in 2017, and the following year made a memorable Ryder Cup debut in Paris, winning four points out of five to help his side to victory. He has gone on to represent Europe twice more, delivering the winning moment in Rome in 2023 in his 3 & 1 victory over Rickie Fowler.

Fleetwood is also passionate about giving back to the game – establishing the Tommy Fleetwood Academy at Formby Hall in England, where he grew up playing the game, and at the DP World Golf Performance Centre at Jumeirah Golf Estates in his adopted home of Dubai.

Global smart logistics provider DP World and the DP World Tour launched the DP World India Championship this season. Co-sanctioned with the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI), the USD 4 million tournament features the largest prize fund ever offered for a DP World Tour event in India, with an exciting field set to join Fleetwood and McIlroy in Delhi.

Fleetwood said: “I can’t wait to get back to Delhi for the DP World India Championship. It’s such an amazing place - the people, the food, I’m looking forward to soaking it all in. But mainly I’m aiming to play some good golf and entertain the Indian fans at an important point in the season.

“I’m also very much looking forward to playing at Delhi Golf Club again. I remember it as a tight, challenging, strategic golf course. I think it’s great leveller, where players with all styles of play can contend, so it should help to make for a very exciting week.

“DP World are such huge supporters of our sport - including the Tommy Fleetwood Academy, which I am so passionate about – and it’s fantastic to see them help to grow the game in India with this new event.”

The DP World India Championship will be the eighth of nine events in the ‘Back 9’ phase of the 2025 Race to Dubai, building towards the season-ending DP World Tour Play-Offs and culminating in the DP World Tour Championship in November at Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai.

- IANS