New Delhi: If star appearances were the lone criterion, this is already a great year for Indian golf with top draws Bryson DeChambeau and Joaquim Niemann coming to India for the International Series in January.
The Indian charge will be led by Shubhanka Sharma, the last Indian in the field to have won a DP World Tour event. (DP World India golf)
It will be five-time major champion Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood who will be the leading lights at this week’s DP World India Championship at the Delhi Golf Club (DGC) course. For 26 Indians in the field, the tournament presents a rare chance to rub shoulders with some of the best in the business at home.
The iconic DGC that last hosted an international event in 2022 will play host to the $4 million event co-sanctioned by PGTI with a field of 138. Known for its undulating greens, narrow fairways flanked by thick overgrowth, the 95-year-old course has retained much of its old world charm with some important upgrades made.
The course redesigned by Gary Player in 2019 has given Indian golf some of its finest hours, right from Ali Sher winning the Indian Open in 1991 and 1993 to Gaurav Ghei taking the title in Gadgil Western Masters in 1995 to SSP Chawrasia winning the first of his two Indian Open titles here in 2016. He also won the $2.5 million Indian Masters European Tour event at the DGC course in 2008.
The Indian fans will be eager to witness elite golf, headlined by an in-form world No.2 McIlroy, while hoping that the home players also make an impact.
The course bears a fresh look following a two-month long preparation. As was the case with DLF Golf and Country Club in Gurugram that hosted the Women’s Indian Open last week, the prolonged monsoon has slowed the greens and fairways. The rough is up too, putting a premium on club selection and accuracy.
“The greens are good and a bit more undulating than many remember — with new runoff areas, swales, and collection bowls. After heavy rain, some of those spots can be sandy or hold moisture, which makes certain recoveries tricky. Around the greens it’s Bermuda grass, so lies can be grainy. The rough is up, and I’m sure the Tour will test us with pins, but it’s a fair examination,” Shubhankar Sharma, a two-time winner on the European tour, said.
“The bushes will always be intimidating here, but that’s part of DGC’s identity. Overall, the players I’ve spoken to are happy with the setup. I certainly am. It’s going to be a great week,” added Sharma, who last played a tournament here in 2016 and was in an exhibition round in 2020 to raise funds during Covid-19.
Two days before the event, the buzz around the course was palpable. Security was tight around the clubhouse and the earlier media room that has been converted into a players’ lounge. PGTI president Kapil Dev and IOA president PT Usha turned up to greet McIlroy, and a shiny McLaren F1 – DP World is in partnership with it – placed strategically on the way to media lounge drew hordes of selfie seekers.
The elite field will look to get its campaign going when the event tees off on Thursday. The Indian charge will be led by Shubhankar, the last Indian in the field to have won a DP World Tour event. It has been a long wait for Shubhankar and India since. While the 29-year-old has come close on a few occasions, a win has eluded him for seven years.
Shubhankar, who is experimenting with clubs this season, has missed 17 cuts on the bounce, 20 overall out of 27 starts. Howver, he made the weekend rounds in his last two tournaments at Dunhill Links and Open de Espana.
“I changed my clubs with which I’ve played for 10 years at least. Once you change the shafts in the clubs, it takes some time to get used to them, and it’s been a struggle this year with that. The game hasn’t felt bad, but I just haven’t got any consistency with my process on the course.
“But now I feel I’m at the end of my exercise, so if I can say, I see the light at the end of the tunnel. The last two weeks have been better, even with approach play, which for me is my strength.”
Anirban Lahiri, a four-time winner on this course, will also hope to roll back the years. After failing to tame the course in his initial years, he flicked the switch in 2011 when he won the Panasonic Open in a playoff.
“The whole idea for me was to try and figure out where to be aggressive, where to be conservative, and from being aggressive off the tee to being conservative off the tee and aggressive on the second shot,” he said.
