DP World India Championship confirmed to return in 2026

The DP World India Championship will return in 2026, with the DP World Tour confirming on Tuesday that it has extended its long-term partnership with DP World. The move follows the huge success of this year’s inaugural event, which brought World No. 2 Rory McIlroy and eventual champion Tommy Fleetwood to India and drew some of the largest galleries ever seen at a golf tournament in the country.

The $4 million event at Delhi Golf Club — the richest tournament ever staged in India — is now being positioned as a regular fixture on the DP World Tour schedule, with plans to build on the momentum and enthusiasm generated in its debut year.

McIlroy, after whom the Tour has named the new Rory McIlroy Award for the best-performing DP World Tour member across the four Major Championships, spoke warmly about his experience in India.

“I enjoyed it, I had a great time in India,” he said. “The hospitality, the welcome, the generosity of the people there, it was absolutely amazing.” He picked out the Diwali party and time spent with Sachin Tendulkar as standout memories of the week.

Yuvraj Narayan, Group Deputy CEO & Chief Financial Officer of DP World, said the event underlined the company’s ambition for the game. “New events such as the recent DP World India Championship show how we are supporting the game’s growth and accessibility for the long term,” he said, highlighting initiatives like the Second Life and Clubhouse programmes, which convert shipping containers into grassroots golf hubs.

Under the expanded agreement — the largest in the Tour’s history — DP World will remain Title Partner and Official Logistics Partner of the DP World Tour until 2035, and continue as Title Partner of the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai. With forty-plus events in over twenty countries, the Tour aims to use this partnership to make golf more global, inclusive and better connected, with India now firmly part of that story.

Photo – DPWT / DP World extends partnership with Tour and DPWIC will return to India in 206. (From left) Haotong Li, Elvis Smylie, Guy Kinnings, Yuvraj Narayan, Daniel van Otterdijk, Tommy Fleetwood and Aaron Rai

Story – V Krishnaswamy in Dubai