New Delhi: An exciting weekend of golf saw new champions emerge on the Europe and the US tours. Spain’s Eugenio Chacarra, the 25-year-old playing on a sponsor’s invite, won the Hero Indian Open at Gurugram’s DLF Golf and Country Club course for his first on the DP World Tour. It is seen as career-altering for the unsettled player, but Chacarra’s focus in chasing success and finding a route to the PGA Tour can be great inspiration for India’s golfers after a subdued week.
PGA Tour’s new champions was Australia’s Min Woo Lee, 25, at the Houston Open. The younger brother of the twice LPGA major champion Minjee Lee, considered a big talent, held off a rapidly closing world No.1 Scottie Scheffler by one shot.
While both winners validated their talent, Chacarra’s victory was remarkable as he desperately needed to secure the card in a major tour after two years on the LIV Tour ended in disappointment with his contract not renewed. It also showed a level of daring and belief one needs to achieve big goals in the ultra-competitive world of pro golf.
Indian players found the going tough at the Indian Open. Of the 30 in the field, 12 made the cut on a familiar yet difficult course that demanded a great level of ball striking and some luck and great skill on hard greens. India’s best was T17 – Veer Ahlawat, Gaganjeet Bhullar and Om Prakash Chouhan. India No.1 Shubhankar Sharma finished T43, finishing with back-to-back birdies, including a fine iron shot on to the 17th green, little consolation.
Chouhan, the 2023 Order of Merit on the PGTI Tour shot 71 as one of only seven players who went sub-par on Sunday while Veer Ahlawat, tied second last year and who earned the card to play on DPWT by topping the 2024 PGTI money list, could not make a push on the final day although it is his best finish on tour.
India’s wait for a win on the European tour continues. Gaganjeet Bhullar’s Fiji International in August 2018 is the last success.
Before the tournament, Shubhankar, twice winner on the European tour, said winning alone can’t be a yardstick in golf and that Indian players were improving and the results will soon show. “So, overall the question is that how is Indian golf? It is on the rise and it’s growing because the scores the kids are shooting these days and especially the young ones coming up and the distances they are hitting, it’s very good to see.”
Ahlawat, 29, said playing on the DP World Tour had been tough, after his 75 on Sunday. “The one thing that changed was how strong the field was (in European events)… I realised I need to work on more things on my game to actually be up there (on the leaderboard) more often.”
“My first goal is to save my card for next year and the second is to have a few top 10s this year and be up there more often.”
