MUMBAI, July 14: Ten Sports, the world's number one
sports channel for south Asians, will telecast live the John Deere Classic, which
features the world number two women’s player, Michelle Wie, and Indian stars
Arjun Atwal and Daniel Chopra. The John Deere Classic assumes added significance
for the players on the PGA Tour as it is the last event and the last chance for
players to find their form before the British Open, the third major of the year
which starts at Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake from July 20. The tournament
will be played at the TPC of Deere Run in Silvis, Illinois, from Thursday, July
13. However, live coverage of the tournament on Ten Sports will only be during
the weekend. It will start at 11:30 pm (IST) on Saturday, July 15, and the final
round at 12:30 am on Monday, July 17. With two famous golfing sons of India
in the field – Atwal of Kolkata and the Swedish Chopra, who honed his skills
at the Delhi Golf Club – the Indian interest will be high in the tournament.
And to add to the excitement, both the players have been paired together on the
opening two days. Wie, who made the cut the last time she played with men
– at the SK Telecom Open on the Asian PGA Tour – will be aiming for
her first weekend round on the PGA Tour. Last year, playing the same tournament,
she was well within the cut line before a late double bogey ruined her chances. The
live telecast of the John Deere Classic follows Ten Sports’ recent signing
of an exclusive deal with the US PGA Tour, which makes it the home for the world’s
biggest golf tour in the sub-continent. With Ten Sports also having the exclusive
rights for the European PGA Tour, the world’s second biggest Tour after the
US PGA, and the Indian PGA Tour, the channel has the most complete bouquet of
golf for the growing number of fans in the sub-continent. Apart from the
various Tours, Ten Sports also has exclusive rights to the PGA Championship, the
fourth and final major of the year. ABOUT TEN SPORTS: Only launched in April
2002, Taj TV’s Ten Sports is watched by more viewers than any other sports
channel in the sub-continent and is available in nearly 50 million cable/ satellite
households worldwide. In just a short span of three years, Ten Sports has also
become the world’s biggest producers of cricket. The Channel broadcasts cricket
from Sharjah, the West Indies, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Morocco throughout the
Indian sub-continent and Asia, as well as in Europe and the Middle East. Other
cricket properties broadcast by Ten Sports in certain territories include internationals
from India, the World Cup 2003 and the ICC Champions Trophy 2004. | 
