KARACHI: In what will be one of the richest sports events in the country’s history, the CNS-Pakistan Golf Championship will take place at the Karachi Golf Club (KGC) in December as an Asian Tour contest, carrying a whopping prize purse of US$500,000. A senior KGC official said Saturday that the tour had included the CNS-Pakistan Open in its calendar and the event would take place from December 1-4. The CNS-Pakistan Open will mark the country’s return to the Asian Tour for the first time since 2018 when the US$300,000 UMA-CNS Open was staged at the KGC. Pakistan will once again figure on the Asian Tour map for the first time in four years with the biggest-ever prize basket in the country’s history. At the current exchange rate, the prize money will be close to Rs100 million, making it the most lucrative sports event in Pakistan’s history. Considering an increased prize purse, it is expected that Asia’s top-notch professionals will feature in the CNS-Pakistan Open. In 2018, Thailand’s Tirawat Kaewsiribandit won the Asian Tour title at KGC. Before 2018, Pakistan hosted back-to-back Asian Tour events at KGC in 2006 and 2007. England’s Chris Rodgers won the 2006 event ahead of India’s Jeev Milkha Singh and Amandeep Johl. In 2007 Malaysia’s Airil Rizman claimed his maiden Asian Tour title with a two-stroke triumph over Scott Hend of Australia. Pakistan has produced only one Asian Tour winner in the past following Taimur Hussain’s success at the 1998 Myanmar Open. In 2018, Islamabad’s Muhammad Munir came close but had to contend with a third-place finish behind two Thai players.