It’s the week of the Hero Indian Open – the tournament that has been the window to international golf for us Indian fans for more than 60 years now.
Of course, 2025 was a very special year for Indian golf. It just seemed like the floodgates opened. In February, we faced the full impact of Bryson DeChambeau’s charm offensive during the International Series India, and in October, we were spoiled for choice as Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood, Viktor Hovland, Shane Lowry, and others landed up at Delhi Golf Club for the DP World India Championship.
As star-studded as these two new tournaments were, and as important as they were for the overall development of the Indian golf ecosystem, the Hero Indian Open remains our preeminent tournament. It’s our national open, it has history, and it is the tournament any young Indian golfer dreams of playing. Yes, there is the Green Jacket and the Claret Jug, but it’s the Indian Open you want to win first.
The field this week is a very good one, especially with the inclusion of the world No22 Akshay Bhatia, but the last week of March has historically prevented the tournament from getting a better field. It’s usually a week or two before the Masters, and most top stars, and even those who are ranked beyond the 50th in the lead-up to the opening major championship of the season, would rather concentrate on trying to find their way to the Augusta National through the PGA Tour.
A couple of weeks after the Hero Dubai Desert Classic – even though it would strain the resources of Hero as a title sponsor of both tournaments – would be a good date for the Indian Open, or one towards the back end of the season, when the PGA Tour is done with its regular season. With Dr Pawan Munjal’s friendship with many of the top stars, it would be a much easier task to get them to India when there is no scheduling pressure on them.
However, in the meantime, let’s have a look at some of the players that should be on your watchlist…
Akshay Bhatia… that’s the obvious one. He is the highest-ranked player in the field, and he is coming off the biggest win of his career at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. The Hero brand ambassador is making his first visit to the land of his ancestors for competitive golf, and he has been pumped up for this week for a long, long time. For someone built as wirily as Bhatia, he belts the ball a long way. But the cornerstone of his game lately has been his sharp wedges and his putting.
Kartik Singh… He has just turned 16, playing his first full season as a professional, and is a very deserving recipient of one of the sponsors’ invitations to the tournament. Last year, he made history by making the cut at the International Series India. And he has got off to a good start on the domestic PGTI Tour with two top-four finishes in five starts. Singh has taken a similar route as Bhatia – turning pro in his teens – so they will have some notes to exchange as well.
Rayhan Thomas… The Dubai-based Thomas has been India’s No1 amateur for a long time before turning pro late in 2024. He is the only Indian with a card on the Korn Ferry Tour, and he has been playing some solid golf lately. The 25-year-old won on his maiden appearance on the PGTI in 2024, and would be looking to make his mark on the DP World Tour this week. Here is hoping some Sanju Samson magic rubs on the only Malayali golfer in the official world golf ranking.
Saptak Talwar… The hottest golfer in domestic golf right now, Talwar won the US$300,000 tournament a couple of weeks ago in Ahmedabad, and was tied second last week at Classic Golf Resort in another US$300,000 event. Unfortunately, HotelPlanner Tour withdrew sanction of the first tournament because of the travel disruption in the Middle East, otherwise, the Delhi-based pro would have been in contention for one of the 20 graduation cards available to the DP World Tour. Maybe, just maybe, bigger things are in store for the 27-year-old.
David Puig… In a relentless pursuit to get an invitation to the Masters, the young Spaniard will make a punishing eighth start in 10 weeks as he travels almost 8,000 kilometres from LIV Golf South Africa last week. Puig is now 75th in the world, and a win could push him inside the top-50, which would mean another long flight to Augusta, but one that he’d never mind. Just like Bhatia, the spindly Puig packs a massive punch off the tee, and the well-known Spanish touch around the greens.
Casey Jarvis… In his last three starts, the 23-year-old South African has won two titles in a row (Magical Kenya Open and the Investec South African Open), followed by a tied second place at the Joburg Open. The South African Open win secured him a spot at the Masters, so the Indian Open should really be a freewheeling week for him. He should also be well rested after that amazing three-week stint, having taken a fortnight off after the Joburg Open.
Shubhankar Sharma/Yuvraj Singh Sandhu… A huge outing for our two Indian stars with cards on the DP World Tour this year. Both Sharma, who retained his card with a heroic performance at the Qualifying School, and Sandhu, who topped the PGTI Order of Merit after an extraordinary season, don’t have the best category on the Tour at the moment. A good, top-5 result would not only be a massive confidence boost but also give them an edge when the re-ranking happens.
