Defending champion Jyoti Randhawa confirms participation

New Delhi, Sep 16 (UNI) The Hero Honda Indian Open Golf, received a major boost when two-time defending champion Jyoti Randhawa confirmed his participation at the US one million dollar event.

The 45th edition of India's premier golfing extravaganza, to be played here from October 9 to 12 will have full strength field vying for the winner's cheque of USD 158,500.

''I am delighted to be competing at the Hero Honda Indian Open yet again. Having twice won this tournament, I am obviously keen to post a record breaking hat-trick,'' said Randhawa from Cologne, Germany.

''With the prize money having doubled, the field for the event has become very competitive. Golfers like Daniel (Chopra), Mark (Brown) and Liang (Wen-Chong) not to mention the host of talented Asian and Indian golfers will undoubtedly be gunning for nothing short of gold,'' added Randhawa, who has three Indian Open wins under his belt (2000, 2006 and 2007).

''The past three weeks have been tough from a personal point of view as I was laid up with high fever at my uncle's house in the United Kingdom.'' Randhawa was expected to compete at the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles followed by the Omega Masters at Switzerland, but he missed out both the events due to his illness.

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