The Indian Masters was a professional

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

tournament on the

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and

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Tours, that was played in February 2008. The tournament was introduced as part of the continuing globalisation of the European Tour, making India the 37th territory to stage a European Tour event, and increasing to twelve the number of tournaments played in Asia as of the 2008 season. The tournament was initially only sanctioned by the European Tour and the Indian Golf Union, the announcement of which drew sharp criticism from both

Asian Tour The Asian Tour is the principal men's professional golf tour in Asia except for Japan, which has its own Japan Golf Tour, which is also a full member of the International Federation of PGA Tours. Official money events on the tour count for Wor ...

chairman Kyi Hla Han and the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI), with both organisations claiming that the European Tour had breached

International Federation of PGA Tours Professional golf tours are the means by which otherwise unconnected professional golf tournaments are organised into a regular schedule. There are separate tours for men and women; most are based in a specific geographical region, although some to ...

protocols by not making advance arrangements with them for co-sanctioning of an event to be staged in their region. The Indian Golf Union issued a statement a few days after the tournament was announced stating that the European Tour had approached it, and was willing to offer 20 invitations to Indian domestic players through the PGTI. The dispute was eventually settled, and the Asian Tour agreed terms to co-sanction the tournament in advance of its 2008 debut. The 2008 prize fund was

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2.5 million, which is the largest ever offered at a golf tournament in India, and also one of the largest in Asia, but slightly below the overall average on the European Tour. The promoters are Golf in Dubai, who are also responsible for the

Dubai Desert Classic The Dubai Desert Classic is a European Tour golf tournament held on Majlis course at Emirates Golf Club in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. In 1999 and 2000 it was held at Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club, all other editions have been held at Emirates Go ...

on the European Tour and the

Dubai Ladies Masters The Dubai Moonlight Classic is a professional golf tournament on the Ladies European Tour (LET). The event was played for the first time in October 2006. Its prize fund of €500,000 made it the fourth most valuable tournament on the LET. Between ...

on the

Ladies European Tour The Ladies European Tour is a professional golf tour for women which was founded in 1978. It is based at Buckinghamshire Golf Club near London in England. Like many UK-based sports organisations it is a company limited by guarantee, a legal stru ...

. Early in December 2008, organisers announced that due to financial problems with sponsors stemming from the global economic situation, and security concerns following the attacks in Mumbai, the 2009 event would be cancelled. The long-established Indian Open is also an Asian Tour event, and beginning in 2015 will be co-sanctioned by the European Tour.

Winners

Notes

References

External links

Coverage on the European Tour's official site
{{Former European Tour Events Golf tournaments in India Former Asian Tour events Former European Tour events Defunct sports competitions in India

Winners

See also

Notes

References

External links