Gurugram: From beauty to beast, that is how wildly the DLF Golf and Country Club course has swung in the last two editions of the Hero Indian Open it has staged. It thus came as no surprise that the players were cautious in assessing how the challenging Gary Player-designed course could treat them in this DP World Tour Asian swing event starting on Thursday.
The weather has turned from surprisingly cool and wet for March till a few days ago to sun and rising temperature, and with it the wind. On a sponsor’s invite and a battling 4-under tournament score, Eugenio Chacarra, 26, achieved a “life changing” first win on the European tour here last year. He saw the effect the weather is having on the drying-up greens. Having reached Gurugram early after missing the cut at last week’s Hainan Classic in China, the talented Spaniard sees the change testing the field. And he likes it that way.
“They (greens) are getting firmer, I can say. On Monday, the ball was doing some backspin, and this morning the ball was skipping a little more,” Chacarra told the media on Wednesday:
A thicker, and softer, fairway may help off the tee but “it will be no putting contest”, he said. Players will have to be switched on for every shot as the leading lights expect the course to bare its teeth as it goes on.
Like Chacarra, a winner on the LIV Golf tour and the Asian Tour’s international series, at least three others will also have a big statement to make this week.
Akshay Bhatia, the US player of Indian origin and the biggest attraction, is in some form. He is the highest ranked in the 138-player field at world No.22 and won the PGA Tour’s signature event, the Arnold Palmer Invitational, this month. Playing for the first time in the land of his parents, Bhatia will be keen to stamp his class before heading to the Augusta Masters, the year’s first Major starting on April 9.
Italy’s Francesco Molinari though heads the biggest achiever’s list. The 2018 winner of The Open Championship was also tied fifth in the 2019 Masters, where the top contenders were done in as Tiger Woods rumbled past in the last four holes to hoist Major No.15. The 43-year-old with six wins on the European tour has not won an event since his Carnoustie Links heroics. He was encouraged to play here by elder brother Edoardo, who has featured in the Indian Open.
Adam Scott and Justin Rose, both 45, are also single Major winners like him, but are going strong at the top.
Asked about the eight-year drought, the Italian, who was one of the Ryder Cup vice-captains in Europe’s 2025 win at Bethpage Black, was philosophical.
“It is part of sport, part of golf. I’m not one of the younger guys…when I don’t get results, I ask myself questions (and make changes),” said Molinari. “I have the motivation. I don’t play for attention. I still enjoy the practice, and try to find something in my game. I never felt like it was a struggle.”
Indian hopes
Shubhankar Sharma too has not won an event since early 2018, after landing both his titles on the European tour within weeks. At 29, the glare will feel harsher. But after a year trying to sort out his new clubs, and a scramble to retain his DP World Tour card via the Q-School, Sharma is upbeat. This season, he has made the cut in three of the six events. Hainan was not one of them.
“Bad times are very important for character development…there will be failure, but persistence is one of the most important qualities to have,” said Sharma.
Yuvraj Sandhu, 29, earned the DP World Tour card this season as the 2025 Professional Golf Tour of India Order of Merit winner. He has missed the cut in his four events, but is hopeful the familiar course will help put together a solid week.
