India Legends championship: Home stars Jeev Milkha Singh, Jyoti Randhawa and Mukesh Kumar to take spotlight

The $5,00,000 HSBC India Legends golf championship, starting at the Jaypee Greens on Friday, is expected to be a lively contest between the home stars Jeev Milkha Singh, Jyoti Randhawa and Mukesh Kumar, against champions like Michael Campbell and Adison Da Silva.

The three-day championship offers $74,250 for the winner, while the second and third places will fetch $49,000 and $32,700 respectively.

“The guys are loving every bit of their Indian experience, from the food to visiting the Taj Mahal. They are really enjoying the golf course which has been prepared very well. The weather is a bit warm for them, but we have been lucky with the overcast conditions so far,” said Jeev Milkha Singh, who doubles up as the host.

Jeev hoped for a home winner as the champion would join the Legends Tour from next week, and play for a full year.

Jyoti Randhawa who won the Qualifying School finals earlier this year to join the Legends Tour, said that he was happy to compete on home turf.

“I have good memories of Jaypee Greens, having won here multiple times. With the way the course is playing, and taking the weather into account, I think the Indian players will have an advantage,” Jyoti said.

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Apart from US Open champion Michael Campbell, who has 15 other wins around the world, the field has Adison Da Silva of Brazil, who had the honour of hitting the first tee shot when golf returned to the Olympics in Rio in 2016.

James Kingston, Joakim Haeggman and Jarmo Sandelin will be some of the other leading players.

Amandeep Johl led his team of amateurs Rajeev Singh, Ravinder Bhati and Amit Prakash Singh to victory on 85 points in the pro-am event on Thursday. Jarmo Sandeln of Sweden, led the amateurs Akhil Sambhar, Amaan Sanwalka and Mayank Sanwalka to the second place, two points ahead of Kapil Dev, Sanjay Sharma and Vivek Bhandari led by James Kingston of South Africa.