New Delhi, Mar 15 (IANS): India's top golfers, including Rashid Khan, Udayan Mane, and Karandeep Kochhar, will be seen in action in the third edition of the Delhi NCR Open Golf Championship starting on Tuesday at the Golden Greens Golf Club in Gurugram.

Rahil Gangjee and Ajeetesh Sandhu are the other top golfers who have confirmed participation in the competition that is part of the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) circuit. The tournament carries a prize purse of Rs 30 lakh.

The competition also offers valuable ranking points for the Tokyo Olympics qualification. With just over three months remaining for the June 21 cut-off date for qualification, golfers like Rashid Khan (306), Udayan Mane (317), and Karandeep Kochhar (348) will look forward to further adding points to their kitty. The Pro-Am event will be conducted on March 20.

Cricket legend Kapil Dev was inducted as PGTI board member on Monday. "I am extremely happy to be a part of PGTI and will do my best to promote golf as a sport that is doing well. Golf has the potential to become one of the most coveted tours in sports," the 1983 World Cup-winning captain said.

While Jeev Milkha Singh said PGTI is the only federation that is currently conducting the Asian Leg and he plans to play close to 35-40 weeks of tour in the next year.

"As a golfer I'm fortunate to have picked up this game. Not many athletes have an opportunity to play a sport after 40. But golf is the only sport that is allowing me to do this," said Singh.