STORY BY AKSH GUPTA

 

 

BENGALURU: The International Series India will no longer be played at Prestige Golfshire Club in Bengaluru, bringing an unexpected end to what was supposed to be one of the biggest professional golf events on the Indian calendar in 2026.

 

The tournament, which was scheduled to bring the Asian Tour’s LIV Golf-backed International Series to Prestige Golfshire, has now been cancelled, according to an update from the venue.

 

The cancellation comes just weeks after a seismic development in global professional golf changed the landscape around the International Series itself.

 

From LIV pathway to a new Asian Tour era

 

 

Prestige Golfshire was set to host the 2026 International Series India in Bengaluru.

 

The International Series was launched in 2022 following LIV Golf’s investment of USD 300 million into the Asian Tour. The elevated events, generally carrying purses of at least $2 million, were designed to bring stronger fields to the Asian Tour while creating a pathway for players to LIV Golf.

 

India became an important part of that story in 2025.

 

The inaugural International Series India was staged at DLF Golf and Country Club in Gurugram and immediately announced itself with a blockbuster field. Bryson DeChambeau, Joaquin Niemann, Paul Casey, Anirban Lahiri and several other LIV Golf stars competed in the USD 2 million tournament, with Ollie Schniederjans eventually winning the title.

 

 

Bryson DeChambeau was among the LIV Golf stars who headlined the inaugural International Series India in 2025.

 

The success of that event led to expectations that the tournament would return to India in 2026, but this time outside the National Capital Region.

 

Bengaluru was selected as the next destination, with Prestige Golfshire emerging as the host venue. Reports earlier this year had the tournament pencilled in for October, with a $2 million purse and another opportunity for Indian fans to see LIV Golf-linked international stars on home soil.

 

That plan has now collapsed.

 

The bigger reason lies beyond Bengaluru

 

The cancellation cannot be viewed in isolation.

 

On July 21, the Asian Tour announced a new multi-year partnership with the PGA Tour and DP World Tour. The agreement creates new pathways for leading Asian Tour players to compete on the DP World Tour from 2027 and will see the DP World Tour return to co-sanctioning selected Asian Tour events.

 

The significance is enormous.

 

For four years, the International Series represented one of the clearest links between the Asian Tour and LIV Golf. That relationship was built around LIV's investment and the creation of elevated tournaments that offered larger purses, stronger fields and a pathway towards LIV.

 

With the Asian Tour now moving into a new partnership with the PGA Tour and DP World Tour, the future of that LIV-backed structure was always going to be questioned.

 

The Asian Tour had initially said its priority was to preserve the remaining International Series events scheduled for later in 2026. But the subsequent developments have made it increasingly clear that the International Series, as we know it, is approaching its end.

 

And India appears to have become one of the first major casualties.

 

A tournament that changed venues, dates and ultimately disappeared

 

The road to the cancellation has been anything but straightforward.

 

When the 2026 event was first being discussed, Bengaluru was identified as the likely destination after the tournament moved away from DLF Golf and Country Club. Prestige Golfshire was among the venues considered before eventually being confirmed.

 

The event was subsequently listed for October 8 to 11 in some 2026 schedules. The official International Series website later showed a revised October 29 to November 1 window at Prestige Golfshire, with the tournament still carrying a USD 2 million purse.

 

Now, even that revised date appears to have disappeared in practical terms.

 

There is an unusual wrinkle to the story: the official International Series website, at the time of publication, continues to list the tournament as an upcoming event at Prestige Golfshire from October 29 to November 1. That suggests the official calendar has yet to be fully updated following the cancellation announcement.

 

What India loses

 

For Indian professional golf, the cancellation is significant.

 

The 2025 International Series India demonstrated what happens when a major international field is brought to an Indian course. The presence of DeChambeau and other LIV Golf stars generated attention well beyond the traditional Asian Tour audience.

 

It also gave Indian players an opportunity to compete against a stronger international field on home soil.

 

The 2026 edition was expected to continue that momentum in Bengaluru and, importantly, take elite international men's professional golf to a different Indian golf market.

 

Instead, Prestige Golfshire will not get to stage the tournament.

 

For Bengaluru, this is a particularly interesting development. The city had been identified as one of the few Indian destinations capable of hosting a tournament of this scale. When the International Series moved away from Gurugram, the Asian Tour's leadership had specifically pointed towards the need to take international golf beyond the National Capital Region.

 

Prestige Golfshire therefore represented more than a new venue. It represented an attempt to widen the footprint of elite professional golf in India.

 

The end of an era, not necessarily the end of international golf in India

 

The most important distinction is this: the cancellation of International Series India does not mean international professional golf is disappearing from India.

 

Far from it.

 

India's 2026 calendar remains packed with major international golf. The USD 4 million DP World Tour India Championship is scheduled for October 15 to 18 at Delhi Golf Club, while the broader Asian Tour is entering a new phase through its partnership with the PGA Tour and DP World Tour.

 

What is disappearing is the particular model that brought LIV Golf, the Asian Tour and the International Series together.

 

 

Ollie Schniederjans won the inaugural International Series India in 2025, securing a place in the series' LIV Golf pathway.

 

And that makes the cancellation at Prestige Golfshire much more significant than a tournament simply being taken off a calendar.

 

It is a visible consequence of the changing power structure of professional golf.

 

The International Series began as one of the most consequential developments in Asian golf, backed by LIV and designed to create a bridge between the Asian Tour and the breakaway league.

 

Now, as the Asian Tour aligns itself with the PGA Tour and DP World Tour, that bridge is being dismantled.

 

India's International Series event has been caught in the middle.

 

For Prestige Golfshire, the biggest international tournament on its 2026 calendar is gone. For Indian golf, the bigger question is what replaces it.