Difficult course could current a chance for locals as Indian Open returns to Gurugram

After a four-year-long COVID-induced break, India’s nationwide golf championship – the $2 million Hero Indian Open – returns to that course on Thursday. Ever because it debuted on the DP World (previously ‘European’) Tour in 2017, the course has been a serious speaking level on the occasion.

You’re proper Ian I did not enter as a result of I by no means deliberate on taking part in them. Last 12 months (🤣) and the canines walked out in protest of not assembly India as a result of, effectively, that course was designed by the satan. https://t.co/JSb1Nf2VeG

— Eddie Pepperell (@PepperellEddie) March 1, 2018

Even a few of the extra seasoned execs have struggled previously at Gurugram: giant man-made lakes require tight driving, foam-faced bunkering requires a wonderful wedge sport, and quick greens And the robust roughness normally does not enable for a low rating.

Such difficult programs normally depart prime golfers a bit clueless – and that is some extent whether or not it is self-defeating for the sport or not.

Still, those that have returned to the venue this 12 months are effectively conscious that the difficult nature of the course – notably the ultimate three holes – can produce some surprising outcomes. Thorbjørn Olesen of Denmark, who gained the Thailand Classic final week, is cautious about being complacent together with his type.

“I think everyone has said a lot about the golf course and what you need to do and it’s going to be a different week,” he instructed the media on Tuesday. “The 16th, 17th and 18th, which is like a climb and has a waterfall – I haven’t played it yet.”

Scotland’s Robert McIntyre, who joined his countryman and defending champion (2019) Scott Gallacher, parried the sixteenth gap in apply however defined how difficult the again three might be.

“I’ve heard so many tales about how robust and virtually wild it’s. I performed the again 9 at this time and received up on the fifteenth and thought: ‘It’s wonderful right here, we will sort out it’, after which the final three and a half holes blew my thoughts a bit,” he said. is a mental test rather than a test of.”

house consolation

This might current a chance for a powerful Indian contingent in Gurugram this week, lots of whom taking part in on the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) are well-acquainted with the course.

2015 champion Anirban Lahiri, who has joined LIV Golf – the Saudi-backed upstart league that has disrupted the game’s established order, and stays one of many huge speaking factors in Gurugram this week – has determined to depart the occasion. determined to. But veteran SSP Chaurasia – who gained the second of his two Indian Open titles (2016, 2017) on the DLF Club – can be within the fray.

26-year-old Pratibha Manu Gadas, PGTI’s Order of Merit topper, who now has a full card for the DP World Tour, may also play, as will Arjuna awardee Shubhankar Sharma.

Sharma, who grew to become the youngest Indian to win a European Tour title 5 years in the past, believes his house course has turn into playable now and has matured since 2019.

“It’s a tough course, one of the more challenging on the whole Tour,” he instructed reporters on Wednesday. “All the players are talking about the last three holes because they’re very difficult finishing holes. Especially knowing where the wind is coming from, if it picks up. But that’s what makes it exciting, because it It’s not over here till the last hole.

“Some of the Indians have played here more regularly, so that will help and serve them well,” he mentioned. “But I hope that the highest execs who’re in good contact in and across the leaderboard will determine how you can adapt rapidly.