Day two of my hosting duties at the $500,000 HSBC India Legends at Championship Jaypee Greens Golf Club has been eventful. Yesterday was filled with successful media engagements, and the Indian media's support for major sports events, especially those with local involvement, is commendable. Today, I focused on practicing at the range and improving my putting, reminding myself of my purpose here.
I skipped the Pro-Am but participated in its prize presentation and will be involved in tomorrow's Pro-Am as well as the Tournament Welcome Dinner tonight, where I will speak to the assembled group of veteran golfers, officials, and guests. It's wonderful to reconnect with fellow players; I had a pleasant chat with Welsh golfer Mark Mouland, who visited Dubai briefly after the Zambia Golf Legends Championship before arriving in Delhi.
Mark shared that Dubai was quite hot, but he managed to practice at Emirates Golf Club and even explored TOPGOLF. A special thanks to Chris May, CEO of Dubai Golf, for hosting one of my friends. I have yet to see the Jaypee Greens course myself, but the players' positive feedback has me eager to check it out during Thursday's Pro-Am.
Today, I also assessed the competition, noting the impressive lineup of 64 players, including six season winners and Major champion Michael Campbell from New Zealand, who won the 2005 US Open. I'm particularly keen to watch how our Indian golfers fare against the Legends Tour's best. There are nine Indian players, including Jyoti Randhawa and myself, with Jyoti having topped the Legends Qualifying School in Belek, Turkey, earlier this year.
The other Indian golfers are Mukesh Kumar, Digvijay Singh, Harmeet Kahlon, Vijay Kumar, Amandeep Johl, Vishal Singh, and Sanjay Kumar, all of whom have Asian Tour wins. This week's event is the 11th of 19 on the Legends Tour 2024 schedule, and the excitement among the players is palpable as we look forward to the tournament's start on Friday.
Our Legends Tour media team is working closely with the PGTI to ensure extensive coverage. I'm contributing to the Khaleej Times Daily Diary, and at yesterday's press conference, I learned that the Legends Tour has become the leading golf tour on YouTube with over 1.75 million subscribers.
