New Delhi, Jan. 2 -- Rory McIlroy, Bryson DeChambeau, Tommy Fleetwood, Joaquin Niemann, Shane Lowry, Viktor Hovland. If star appearances were an indicator, Indian golf never had it this big. The year 2025 began with LIV Golf breaking ground in India through its $2 million International Series in Gurugram while the second half of the year witnessed $4 million DP World India Championships at the iconic Delhi Golf Club. In between was the men's Hero India Open with a prize purse of $2.5 million. None of these big-ticket events, however, had an Indian winner. No one, in fact, came close. While hosting high-profile tournaments certainly gives India a big lift in the global golf market, the absence of a world-class Indian golfer calls for a dispassionate reality check. Indian pros coming unstuck at major events is no longer an anomaly. The days of Jeev Milkha Singh, Arjun Atwal and Jyoti Randhawa are long gone and the current lot, despite its promise, is still searching for its moment under the sun. The last win by an Indian man on the European Tour was in 2018, and the last time an Indian man won on the Asian Tour was in 2023. Since the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) had a strategic tie-up with DP World Tour in late 2022, Manu Gandas, Om Prakash Chouhan and Veer Ahlawat have had their chance to play a full season in Europe. For all their promise and talent, the results haven't been assuring. Shubhankar Sharma, India's constant presence on the DP World Tour for close to a decade, had a horror run in 2025 that saw him miss 22 cuts in 29 winless tournaments, a downswing he mostly put down to experimenting with his equipment. The new year will see Yuvraj Sandhu join Sharma in Europe, after a stupendous PGTI season with seven titles for the Order-of-Merit win, the qualifying parameter for a DP World Tour card from the domestic tour. "I am aware of the challenges the European Tour presents but I believe I am capable of collecting a few wins there," Sandhu said. While winning alone can't be the criterion to judge the sport's growth, the leaderboard does present a good picture. Case in point is the Asian Tour. In 2025, only four Indians had a full card. It won't be different in 2026 with only Shaurya Bhattacharya, Shubham Jaglan, Rashid Khan and Ajeetesh Sandhu making the cut. "The situation is concerning, for sure. Not long back, we used to have 15-16 players from India on the Asian Tour who kept their card every year. We also had 3-4 Asian Tour events every year in India," said Rahul Singh, senior vice-president and head of the International Series. The Asian Tour returned to India after two years through the Bharat Classic Gujarat in Ahmedabad, co-sanctioned by the newly launched Indian Golf Premier League (IGPL). With domestic stars such as Gaganjeet Bhullar and the promising Kartik Singh choosing IGPL over PGTI, the latter's star power has taken a hit. PGTI responded by announcing its own league, which it believes will open up fresh sponsorship avenues. Rahul said Indian golfers need a robust feeder tour for growth. To be sure, PGTI held 36 events in 2025, including eight in NextGen, a developmental tour for emerging players. The main tour put up Rs.35 crore in prize money, up from Rs.24 crore last year. Three players - Sandhu, N Thangaraja and Shaurya Bhattacharya - made over Rs.1 crore. "These are unprecedented numbers and they indicate the health of Indian golf," PGTI CEO Amandeep Johl said. "The results, of course, could have been better. I won't be satisfied until our players start winning on the PGA and DP World Tours, and we are doing everything we can to help them get there gradually." As of now, European Tour's development tour - HotelPlanner Tour - holds two events in India. PGTI plans to add at least two more events to the list and hopes to secure at least 12 cards on the HotelPlanner Tour. "Our boys need quality competition and exposure, and getting more invitations on Europe's development tour will be of great help. We're also trying to get players from Korea, Japan and South Africa to play on the PGTI Tour, which will again benefit our boys," Johl said. For Sandhu, the results are a direct function of the finances. "You need to support your players as much as you can. I don't see corporate houses coming forward to support professional golfers. We don't have that sort of ecosystem right now," he said....