Indian Masters

The Indian Masters was a professional golf tournament on the European and Asian Tours, that was played in February 2008. The tournament was introduced as part of the continuing globalisation of the European Tour, making India the 37th territory to stage a European Tour event, and increasing to twelve the number of tournaments played in Asia as of the 2008 season.

The tournament was initially only sanctioned by the European Tour and the Indian Golf Union, the announcement of which drew sharp criticism from both Asian Tour chairman Kyi Hla Han and the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI), with both organisations claiming that the European Tour had breached International Federation of PGA Tours protocols by not making advance arrangements with them for co-sanctioning of an event to be staged in their region. The Indian Golf Union issued a statement a few days after the tournament was announced stating that the European Tour had approached it, and was willing to offer 20 invitations to Indian domestic players through the PGTI. The dispute was eventually settled, and the Asian Tour agreed terms to co-sanction the tournament in advance of its 2008 debut. The 2008 prize fund was US$2.5 million, which is the largest ever offered at a golf tournament in India, and also one of the largest in Asia, but slightly below the overall average on the European Tour. The promoters are Golf in Dubai, who are also responsible for the Dubai Desert Classic on the European Tour and the Dubai Ladies Masters on the Ladies European Tour.