In a big blow to the sport in the eastern region, the Professional Golf Tour of India's annual event - Kolkata Classic has been dropped from next season's calendar due to the lack of sponsors.
"It is not happening because of lack of sponsors. It all depends on sponsorship," PGTI CEO Uttam Singh Mundy said on the sidelines of the final round of McLeod Russel Tour Championship.
The event, that carried a prize purse of Rs 40 lakh, ran for two years with Shubhankar Sharma winning the inaugural edition in 2016 and Shamim Khan emerging champion this year.
The PGTI is yet to ink a fresh contract with McLeod Russel whose three-year agreement for the Rs 1.5 crore Tour Championship got over today.
The Tour Championship is a much-anticipated last meet of the PGTI calendar involving the top 50 in Order of Merit and 15 invitation entries, an event that has been in the run for six years.
Mundy, however, sounded hopeful that the season-ending event will remain intact.
"We are working on it and we are hopeful. But I can not say now," Mundy said about the future of the Tour Championship.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)