Friday, October 6 2006 14:51 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Indian golf was in for a major upheavel with more than 70 top golfers, including Jyoti Randhawa, Gaurav Ghei and Shiv Kapur, withdrawing from the Professional Golfers Association of India (PGAI) yesterday (Oct 5.2006).

The players, who have been locked in a legal battle with their promoters, Tiger Sports Marketing, over the marketing of the sport in India, seemed set for launching a Tour of their own.

But they have stopped short of spelling out their next course of action, probably because their case against TSM is still in the court and the next hearing of which is set for Nov 30.

An announcement from the players, though, is expected on Tuesday.

Following the withdrawal, PGAI Board members were also expected to put in their resignations soon.

"All the players stand united. We are together and we want to see the game grow," Guarav Ghei, who recently joined the winner's circle on the Asian Tour with victory at the Taiwan Masters, was quoted as saying in a press release.

European Tour regular Jyoti Randhawa added from the Dunhill Championship in Scotland, "the aims and objectives that we conceived for the PGAI cannot be achieved under this framework, so the players decided to hand in their resignations.

"The future of the game is in good hands as we have ambassadors on the PGA Tour, European, Japanese and Asian Tours and this is just another step to ensure that we have a solid foundation, to be able to take the game further," he said.