In turf battle of golf leagues, World Cup winners Kapil Dev and Yuvraj Singh in opposite camps

Christened ’72 The League’, the venture announced by Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) — which is helmed by cricket legend Kapil Dev — will feature six city-based teams, with 10 players each and open to all PGTI members. It will be played in addition to regular tour events. The first edition of the tournament will be held from February 21 to March 6 next year. There is an auction planned with a pool of Rs 1 crore per team, but its timeline or the identity of the team owners has yet to be announced with 72 days left for the event, implying that the move may be a reaction to the advent of the circuit that has come up in competition to the status quo in Indian golf.

Next year’s event will be held across three venues in the National Capital region – Qutab Golf Course, Jaypee Greens, and Classic Golf and Country Club.

The PGTI, at the launch of the new venture on Thursday, described it as the “first and only professional golf league” in the country. It has been only a few months since IGPL got on board some of the more prominent names in Indian golf – such as Gaganjeet Bhullar, SSP Chawrasia and Shiv Kapur – prompting PGTI to issue show-cause notices to 17 players in September. Some of the players thus affected have challenged the decision in the Delhi High Court.

PGTI claims they didn’t follow due process and didn’t seek permission before playing in an IGPL event, and will not feature in the new venture. There have been other players registered with the PGTI who played in an IGPL event after getting the nod from their parent body. They will be eligible to be in the auction pool.

“We are all part of one family and friends. All of us are stakeholders in the sport, but it’s not a business venture for us,” Kapil said on Thursday.

But he stressed that players can’t ride two boats.

“There has to be one body running the sport in the country. We can’t allow more than one players’ body, or tomorrow a third one can come up. I have to take care of 350 players, not just 32,” Kapil, who was once a promoter of the now-defunct Indian Cricket League, in direct confrontation with the BCCI, said.

“I would like them (IGPL) to take care of our senior (veteran) players. Why are you confusing our youngsters? There is only one pathway. If you want to play in the Olympics, you have to play with this body.”

When asked for a response to Thursday’s developments, the IGPL conveyed a short message: “It’s a good thing for golf and was long overdue.”

When contacted, IGPL CEO Uttam Mundy said he had just landed in Delhi from the UAE where the invitational tournament in Dubai concluded on Wednesday, and had to catch a connecting flight to Chandigarh. He claimed that he wasn’t aware of the launch of the PGTI’s league.

The new initiative has former cricket administrator Amrit Mathur as its commissioner and Joy Bhattacharya, formerly associated with ESPN and Kolkata Knight Riders and now with the Pro Volleyball League, as advisor.

PGTI CEO Amandeep Johl said the league would be held in the Matchplay format, breaking the monotony of the individual-centric nature of the tour, while providing another income avenue for the players.

“There will be various categories of players in the auction. For example, the top 30 in the PGTI Order of Merit will be in the highest bracket, followed by those coming in lower. It will be up to the franchises to assemble a team with the purse at their disposal,” Johl said. “We may even have foreign players as part of the league in the future.”

Apart from the amount they go for at the auction, the players will also get some part of the prize money for each leg of the league.