MUMBAI, December 14: Mahindra Invitational Golf Championship, one of the four `majors' in the Professional Golfers Association of India (PGAI) Tour, will tee-off at the Bombay Presidency Golf Club course from December 18.The four-day championship, sponsored by Mahindra and Mahindra and organised by Tiger Sports, will feature top Indian professionals, including defending champion Arjun Singh and the man he beat in that nail-biting tie-breaker last year, Arjun Atwal.All the players currently in the top ten of Mahindra Golf Ranking will be present to fight it out for the top honours in this Rs 15 lakh prize money event. The winner's cheque will be worth Rs 2.49 lakh.Among the big names to watch out for are Ali Sher, the twice Indian Open champion; Gaurav Ghei, the only Indian to qualify for British Open; Vijay Kumar, who has already three Tour wins to his credit; Vivek Bhandari, who won the year's first major - the Honda-Siel PGA at New Delhi, and a host of others who have been regulars at the Omega Asian PGA Tour.The only marquee name absent from the starting list is Chiranjeev Milkha Singh, who has accepted an invitation to play in a Hong Kong tournament at the same time.Off the 100 players who tee-off on the opening day, only the top 40 will make it to the third round after the cut is applied at the end of 36 holes.
