IMG sets sights on Indian golf

International sports management firm IMG is set to bid for the marketing rights to India's fast-growing professional golf circuit which recently lost its main patron after a central move to ban tobacco sponsorship in sport.

The Professional Golfers' Association of India has a contract till 2004 with marketing firm Tiger Sports Management but IMG said it is confident of impressing the association with a seven-year offer worth 250 million rupees.

"We are meeting the PGAI's board on Sunday. We are offering about 250 million rupees for seven years for marketing and television rights," Peter Hutton, joint managing director South Asia at IMG, told Reuters on Saturday.

"We are offering the board secure bank guarantees in a joint venture with 21st Century (another domestic marketing company). Their current contract (with TSM) has no such provision, so I think they should like our offer," he added.

But top TSM official Brandon D'Souza said he expects no problem once he discusses the issue with the PGAI.

"I am shocked at hearing this," he said from Singapore. "I am meeting the PGAI board in Delhi on Sunday night and will take this up very seriously," he said.

The Indian golf tour expected to face a cash crunch when earlier this year cigarette-maker ITC Ltd pulled out of all sports sponsorship.

The company was the main sponsor of the Asian PGA tour's $300,000 Indian Open championship and also gave approximately 7.1 million rupees for the Indian tour.

IMG, one of the biggest golf marketing companies, represents international players Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh. They won the rights for sponsorship of the Indian cricket team last week with a world record deal of approximately 720 million rupees with the Indian cricket board.

IMG subsequently sold the sponsorship rights to India's Sahara Group -- which has interests in airlines and media -- at a higher sum.