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India is known as a ‘cricket crazy’ nation in the world when it comes to spots. Now, time has come to take golf into account as it is considered to be the fastest growing sport in India. Well, you may not find a player like Tiger Woods from India yet, but the fact is that India has started hosting major golf tournaments now-a-days and public interest regarding golf has been increased drastically.

India hosted its first major golf tournament, Indian Masters, at the beginning of the month. That was the first European and Asian Tour's co-sanctioned tournament in the country. Indian golfer Shivshankar Chowrasia won the title which created huge enthusiasm among the local fans. Now, the second major golf tournament gets underway. The tournament titled Johnnie Walker Classic kicks off from Thursday.

Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) is trying to organize a number of international golf events in India every year. Particularly, they look to stage four to six major golf tournaments each year by 2010. With two major events within a month the target seems to be realistic. However, golf is an expensive game as its equipments are highly expensive. So, financial side is one of main constraints of golf in India. Moreover, there are only few golf courses in India at this moment and most of them are located to the developed cities. So, it would be a challenge to popularize the sport across the country. In fact, the most challenging part is to find a celebrity golfer who can match the charisma and popularity of Sachin Tendulkar.

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Reuters