Denmark’s Rasmus Hojgaard and Yannik Paul of Germany have confirmed their participation for the Indian Open golf tournament beginning March 28.
Rasmus, who turns 23 on Tuesday, will be seeking more silverware to his already growing collection when he tees off at the USD 2.25 million event. He already has four wins on the DP World Tour to his name.
Rasmus will be making his debut at the tournament, which will be played at the DLF Golf and Country Club, and will hope to mark his birthday month with a fifth career win on the DP World Tour.
Currently 75th in the world rankings, the Dane will be one of the highest-ranked players in the field, his career-best rank being 63rd.
He is coming off a glorious start to 2024 with Top-10s in three successive starts in Ras Al Khaimah, where he was second, and then T-8 in Bahrain and T-6 in Qatar.
Before that, he was an identical T-11 at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic and the Dubai Invitational.
His first win at the 2019 AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open (part 2020 season) made him the third youngest to win a title in the DPWT and he added to that by winning the 2020 ISPS Handa UK Championship, 2021 Omega European Masters and the 2023 Made in Himmerland.
A win at the Hero Indian Open would bring Rasmus closer to getting into the Top-10 of the DP World Tour rankings for 2024, which could earn him a card into the PGA Tour and join his brother Nicolai.
Incidentally, his twin brother Nicolai played last year here and finished T-32.
Another popular name confirming his entry will be Paul, who turned 30 last week.
The one-time DP World Tour, Paul, who made his Indian Open debut last year, came within a whisker of his second win on the Tour, after starting with a brilliant 65 on the first day.
Even though Paul was unable to add to his tally of wins in 2023, he had a superb season with two runner-up finishes, one third place and four other Top-10 results.
Paul, who broke through into Top-100 of the world, is now just outside at 112th.
All top Indian stars, led by the 2015 winner, Anirban Lahiri, will be seen in action at the 4-day 72-hole event.
The tournament, now in its 57th edition, will carry a record prize purse of USD 2.25 million and will be a part of the Asian Swing bringing added benefits for the Swing Champion.
It will be the second of five events comprising the Asian Swing as part of the new-look 2024 Race to Dubai.
The tournament will see 144 players compete for the trophy. The winner will receive a handsome USD 382,500, the runner-up picking up USD 247,500 and the third-place finisher pocketing USD 141,750.
