Siem Wins Hero Indian Open

By Deepak Arora

GURUGRAM, Feb 26: Marcel Siem survived a tense 72nd hole to win the US$ 2 million Hero Indian Open 2023 and return to the winner’s circle more than eight years after he had won his last DP World Tour title.

His second shot on the final hole was headed for the water, but the rough on the edges of the lake stopped the ball. His wedge into the green gave him a 25-foot birdie putt, which he left short. As Paul missed a 12-footer for birdie, Siem holed the four-and-a-half feet par putt for the win.

Dr. Pawan Munjal, Chairman & CEO of Hero Motocorp, and Brijinder Singh, President of the Indian Golf Union, presented Siem with the Trophy.

The top Indians were Shubhankar Sharma (68), who had his best day of the week on Sunday, and Veer Ahlawat (73) at 4-under in tied 13th place.

The 42-year-old Siem, started the final day one behind fellow German Yannik Paul but caught up with him right at the turn with two birdies on the front nine as compared to one by Paul. Back-to-back birdies on 10th and 11th put him two ahead but there was a twist in tale on the 13th. Siem bogeyed and Paul birdied for a two-shot swing and suddenly, the two Germans vying to be the first from their country to win the Hero Indian Open, were tied at 13-under.

Over the last five holes, from the 14th to the 18th, the two Germans managed just one birdie and it came from Siem. He finished at 14-under to win by one over Paul (13-under).

As the tension escalated, Siem, who earlier in the week had likened the DLF Golf Course set-up as similar to a Major because of the challenge posed by the course, birdied the Par-5 15th while Paul was unable to find any birdies over the last five holes.

Paul needing a birdie to force a play-off missed from just over 12 feet and then Siem holed his par putt to become the first German player to hold aloft the trohpy of India's national open.

Paul finished runner-up for the second time in as many weeks.

Joost Luiten, who had an eagle putt to get into a tie for second, managed only a birdie on 18th to finish the day with 68 and the tournament at 12-under for third place.

Siem, who spoke to his mother on Facetime minutes after the win, was candid in admitting, “I just made it a little bit too difficult and 18 was really tough out there. First of all, this golf course doesn't allow you to make any mistakes so the pressure is on anyhow and then Yannik (Paul) and Joost (Luiten) were just pushing. I know Joost has gone for everything and I thought he's going to make eagle on the last and then who knows what that happens. It could be a three-man playoff or whatever.”

Yannik was playing very solid as well. "I'm really, really tired. I think it was one of the toughest golf rounds I've ever played in my life. It's exhausting.”

“Yeah, I'm back. I'm back in the winners’ circle now. My life coach has always said, ‘Dude. You're so good. There's just a few screws. We have to loosen up and screw them back together and just believe in yourself and don't be too hard on yourself. Enjoy life and be nice to yourself. So, if I'm staying on this road, who knows what's coming next.”

Japan’s Masters-bound Kazuki Higa was on fire at the start of the day with two birdies and an eagle in his first four holes. But he was unable to maintain that tempo and finished the day at 68 to be tied fourth with Spaniard Jorge Campillo (69) at 8-under.

Alexander Knappe and Thorbjorn Olesen, who had an up-and-down day, finished with 70 for tied sixth, while Simon Forsstrom (67) and Gavin Green (67) were tied eighth.

Angad Cheema, who seemed set for a top-10 finish came to grief on the Par-5 18th, where he had a quadruple bogey and dropped sharply to tied-20th alongside Honey Baisoya (73).

Siem’s fifth DP World Tour win came in his 502nd start and came after a gap of eight years and 116 days after his fourth win, at the 2014 BMW Masters. Siem did have a win in the period since 2014, but it came on the Challenge Tour at the 2021 Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge.

Shubhankar, Ahlawat best Indians at tied 13th in Hero Indian Open

By Deepak Arora

GURUGRAM, Feb 26: Shubhankar Sharma produced his best round of the week with a 4-under 68 and finished tied for 13th place alongside Veer Ahlawat (73) to total 4-under 284 at the US$2 million Hero Indian Open 2023. The duo finished as the best Indians at the event played at the DLF Golf and Country Club.

As two Germans battled it out to become the first from their country to win the Hero Indian Open, Marcel Siem (68, 14-under 274) won by one-shot over Yannik Paul (70, 13-under).

Angad Cheema saw a top-10 finish slip away with a horrendous quadruple bogey on the 18th hole that sent him plunging to tied 20th on the leaderboard.

Local golfer Honey Baisoya shared the 20th place with Cheema on two-under 286 and Yuvraj Singh Sandhu made up for a difficult third round of five over par 77 with a two under 70 that lifted him into a share of 25th place.

Though it was hard to overcome two consecutive over-par rounds on days two and three, Shubhankar Sharma was satisfied with his finish. “Today was really good, I played quite well and hung in there,” he said later.

“Played well on the back nine, which I'm quite happy about. Didn't really have my best on the back nine all week, but today was quite nice. So quite happy and it's a good way to finish the event. Today, I just got off to a good start, I made birdie on the first which was good and after that something clicked which I was really happy about.

“Even though I made a mistake on the eighth, I was still able to stay within my zone and I'm particularly happy with the way I played the back nine, it was really solid. Wasn't off position at all and hit it really solid of the tee, so that I'm happy about.”

Sharma was putting for a birdie on 18 that would have put him in the top ten, but the ball stopped on the edge of the hole. “The pin position was really tough and my second shot actually went slightly over the green and then it was a tough two putts there.

“I actually hit a good first putt, but the green was really slow so it got to the pin. And even the second putt was nice but just unlucky as it turned on the face. I made a lot of putts today, so it was a good day overall,” he added.

Cheema leads home challenge as 16 Indians make the cut at Hero Indian Open on Day 2

By Deepak Arora

GURUGRAM, Feb 24: Angad Cheema saw a birdie putt horseshoe out on his last hole of day two of the US$2 million Hero Indian Open but he had done enough to stay tied second. He finished the day five shots behind leader Yannik Paul of Germany at the DLF Golf and Country Club on Friday.

Cheema followed his opening day’s four-under 68 with a 71 to sit alongside Finland’s Mikko Korhonen (72), Iceland’s Gudmundur Kristjansson (71) and Germany’s Marcel Siem (70), who were all on five-under 139 with Cheema at the end of the second day as scoring grew progressively tougher.

“It is a tough golf course, and you have to stay patient,” the Chandigarh-based Cheema said later. “You have to stay patient and I’ve been trying to work on that, not only on this golf course but also in general.

“I’ve got to keep doing that. I don’t know what the key is, you have to try and stay patient. It’s a proud feeling to be the leading Indian. It’s a good feeling to be up there, it’s not going to be easy but I’ve just got to go out there and do my best,” the 33-year-old added.

Overnight leader Paul added a 69 to his overnight 65 to grow his 36-hole total to 10-under 134, even as Thursday’s best-placed Indian Honey Baisoya slipped up after an encouraging start with a birdie. Baisoya had a nightmarish patch on his first nine, the back stretch of the course, where he had two doubles and one bogey. The local boy ended the day with a 74, which with his opening 66, gave him a share of sixth place on four-under 140.

Yuvraj Sandhu (70-71) returned in the morning to complete his opening round of 70 and returned shortly after for his second round and added 71. He tied for eighth place on three under 141 while Shubhankar Sharma rued a cold putter that saw him slip into a tie for 13th alongside Yashas Chandra and four others.

Sharma reached both Par-5s on the front nine in two but could only reap pars from both potential eagle opportunities. “The pins were quite tough and in tight positions which is never easy, so that was the case but again tomorrow is another day. Hopefully things will go in my favour tomorrow,” he said later.

“It's always good to finish a round here and try to figure whatever your problems are and not keep it till tomorrow,” he added

Overall, half of the 32 Indians in the field made the cut that fell at four-over 148. Order of Merit 2022 topper Manu Gandas (70-73) and Veer Ahlawat (73-70) were in shared 19th place on one-under 143, while Chikkarangappa S. (75-69) put in a strong recovery in round two to sit along with Sachin Baisoya (75-69) on level par 144.

DLF Golf Academy trainee Kartik Sharma was tied 44th on 146 with Karandeep Kochhar, Khalin Joshi and three others, while two-time winner S.S.P. Chawrasia, Gaganjeet Bhullar, Shiv Kapur and M. Dharma all made it to the weekend on the line. However, the three-time champion Jyoti Randhawa missed the cut.

6 Indians find place in top-15 at Hero Indian Open

By Deepak Arora

GURUGRAM, Feb 23: The host nation was well represented on the leaderboard on the opening day of the US$ 2 million Hero Indian Open 2023 with as many as six Indians finding a place in the top-15 at the DLF Golf and Country Club on Thursday.

DLF golfer Honey Baisoya held the clubhouse lead for much of the day with a six-under-par 66 before losing it to the late-charging German Yannik Paul (65), who seemed to continue from where he let off last week where he finished second.

Baisoya was closely followed by Shubhankar Sharma and Angad Cheema on 4-under 68 that gave them a share of fourth place.

Veteran M, Dharma and 2022 PGTI Order of Merit topper Manu Gandas, another DLF golfer, shared eighth place on two under 70 along with Yuvraj Singh Sandhu (17 holes), who was among a small group of players who could not complete the first round due to fading light.

Sharma dropped two shots early after starting on the back nine but made up well towards the end of his round with three birdies over his final four holes including a solid recovery on the ninth where he drove the ball wide but chipped on beautifully before converting the opportunity.

“On nine, I actually missed my drive and went almost 50-60 yards left. And then from the rough, I had a good shot to about 20 feet.”

“My putting was quite average to begin with. Like I wasn't doing anything great, but I wasn't doing anything bad either. And then on the front nine, which was my closing nine I think I was more focused. I just wanted to shoot a good score. So gave myself a few opportunities.”

“I was quite straight off the tee, on most occasions, except for maybe one place where I went slightly left on hole six, but I managed to make a good up and down there. I think my putting became slightly better on this nine, which helps. It's a long tournament. So we'll see what happens."

Honey Baisoya said playing at the host venue was a big plus for him. “One reason why so many of us (himself, Sharma, Manu Gandas to name a few) are going well today is because we play here a lot. The last time I played was before I left to play outside. That was about a month ago. (When I am in India) I come here every day.”

Angad Cheema, tied fourth alongside Sharma, said later, “I didn't play well on the back nine. But then got it going on the front nine. I was hitting it close consistently and that helped set up the (five) birdies there."

Khalin Joshi (18 holes) and Yashas Chandra (17 holes) were level par for the day with Aadil Bedi, Abhijit Singh Chadha, Ajeetesh Sandhu and Veer Ahlawat were all bunched together in tied 34th place on one-over 73.

Shiv Shankar Prasad Chawrasia and Jyoti Randhawa, who have won the Hero Indian Open five times between them were further down the standings, Chawrasia was in tied 60th alongside Gaganjeet Bhullar on three-over 75 and Randhawa one shot behind in tied 78th.

Olesen and Ahlawat lead their teams to victory in afternoon Pro-Am

By Deepak Arora

GURUGRAM, Feb 22: The teams led by Thorbjørn Olesen of Denmark and India’s Veer Ahlawat triumphed at the curtailed IGU Pro-Am here at the Hero Indian Open on Wednesday evening.

The unseasonal fog on Wednesday morning meant that the morning Pro-Am started late and the afternoon Pro-Am had to be curtailed to nine holes, with separate front nine and back nine matches.

While Thorbjørn Olesen’s team which comprised of amateurs Pranav Sahai, Gaurav Seth and Nishith Arora came up trumps in the front nine with a score of 20-under, Veer Ahlawat’s team which had Neeraj Garg, Anuj Gulati and Vivek Vasishtha won the back nine with a score of 12-under par.

The Indian Golf Union (IGU) President Brijinder Singh and Chairman Hero Indian Open Committee of IGU S K Sharma gave away the prizes.

Individual Prizes:

Closest to Pin on 5th Hole: KK Sindhu - 5 feet 1 inch

Closest to Pin on 12th Hole: Chotu Mathur - 2 feet 2 inches

Longest Drive 8th Hole

Lady Winner: Navita Man Singh - 140 yards

Men Winner: Sandeep Verma - 248 yards

Longest Drive 15th Hole

Men Winner: Vijay Reddy – 294 yards

Shubhankar leads team to victory in Hero India Open Pro-Am

By Deepak Arora

GURUGRAM, Feb 22: Shubhankar Sharma got his week off to a winning start, albeit in the Hero Pro-Am this morning. Sharma, who is one of the top home favourites for the US$ 2 million Hero Indian Open, which gets back into action for the first time since 2019.

Sharma’s team at the traditional curtain-raiser to the Hero Indian Open, which comprised amateurs Amitabh Nagpal, T. Goulein Kipgen and Dhiraj Seth returned a score of 34-under par to win the Pro-Am, the same as Tuesday’s Hero Shootout winner Denmark’s Nicolai Hoigaard’s team which included Dr Pawan Munjal, Chairman and CEO of Hero Motocorp, Willy Bett and Kishan Bajoria. Sharma’s team was declared as winners on the basis of countback on the back nine.

Dutchman Joost Luiten and amateurs Pawan Puri, Rajen Kamani and Ashish Gupta took third place on 33-under par on a day where scores, especially on the front nine, were exceptionally low.

In the list of individual prizes, the closest to the hole (hole 5) contest was won by Kartik Bharatram (five feet, three inches) and the one on hole 12 was topped by Ashish Gupta who hit his tee shot to two feet of the pin.

Longest drive prizes too were offered on two holes. Hunar Barar teed it off to 240 yards on Hole 8 while the men’s winner was Samvit Chopra (255 yards). On hole 15, Anahie Lohner drove the ball to 205 yards while Raghav Bhandari’s hefty 305-yard hit topped the men’s contest.

The prizes were given away by Dr. Pawan Munjal, Chairman and CEO of Hero MotoCorp.

Longest Drive 8th Hole

Lady Winner: Hunar Brar - 240 yards

Men Winner: Samvit Chopra - 255 yards

Longest Drive: 15th Hole

Lady Winner: Anahie Lohner – 205 yards

Men Winner: Raghav Bhandari - 305 yards

Closest to Pin 5th Hole: Kartik Bharatram (5 feet 3 inches)

Closest to Pin 12th Hole: Ashish Gupta - 2 feet

Shubhankar Sharma looking forward to Hero Indian Open

By Deepak Arora

GURUGRAM, Feb 22: Shubhankar Sharma and Manu Gandas will be among the leaders of the Indian challenge at the US$ 2 million Hero Indian Open which tees off here tomorrow.

The two 26-year-olds both of whom have DP World Tour cards, grew up playing golf on the junior circuit since the age of 10, but have not got to play together much since turning pro. Now that Gandas has joined him, Sharma is visibly thrilled to have his friend for company on the Tour.

Sharma turned pro ten years ago at the age of 16 and moved to international Tours in Asia, then the DP World Tour (where he has won twice) and has even played a bit on the PGA Tour. Gandas turned pro in 2015, but did not find much success till last year.

Gandas won six times during a brilliant 2022 season on the TATA Steel Professional Golf Tour of India to top their Order or Merit. That success came right in time as the DP World Tour and the PGA Tour announced a strategic tie-up with the PGTI and Gandas was the first beneficiary of that.

The DP World Tour returns to DLF Golf and Country Club here for the first time since 2019. Gandas last competed at his national open five years ago.

Sharma said, “I’m very happy that the event is back. It’s like a fifth major, I’ve said that countless times this week. It’s very, very special and I’m very happy it’s back, especially at DLF.

“This course is very special to me. This is where I played quite a lot from 2012 to 2016, around the time that I joined the Tour and it’s always great coming back. The course is in great nick and it’s slightly different to what it was three years ago. The bushes have grown, the trees have grown, so it’s definitely tighter. I’m very happy it’s back.

“It means a lot to have this event. I’ve been playing on the DP World Tour for four years now but quite a few (Indian) players are getting their first experience of proper international golf. It’s a great for them, they’re all very excited, a lot of good players have emerged in the last few years, and this is their first experience of international golf.”

Sharma was also excited about Gandas coming onto the Tour. “It will be great to have him around at the events. I have a lot of friends on the Tour, but it will be nice to have someone I know so well. It is also a great opportunity for him, just as it is for all of us, already on the Tour.”

Gandas is aiming to showcase the improvement he has made in his game since his last DP World Tour appearance on home soil.

After missing the cut in his first two starts of the 2023 Tour season, Gandas impressed on his way to finishing in a share of 28th place at last week’s Thailand Classic.

“I have been feeling good,” he said. “My game has been progressing bit by bit and I am looking forward to the week. I have been working on the shortcomings that I have had for a while and that has borne fruit for me.

“I feel at the end of the day that the increased attention doesn’t change anything because what I can control is my own game. If I keep doing that, I will be happy.”

Gandas loves this course as it is his home course. He said, “This is basically my second home,” he added. “I have grown up here and to have a National Open over here is a proud thing for us. The conditions are impeccable right now. The fairways are pristine, and the greens are rolling quite good so overall it is in great shape.

“For the DP World Tour to have this event back on their schedule will definitely help the sport grow in India and that is a good thing.”

There are 32 Indians in the field and that includes three-time Hero Indian Open winner, Jyoti Randhawa, and the two-time HIO winner, SSP Chawrasia.

Gallacher happy to be back to defend Hero Indian Open title after almost four years

By Deepak Arora

GURUGRAM, Feb 22: Stephen Gallacher finally gets the opportunity to defend his Hero Indian Open title more than 1400 days after he won it as India’s national open returns to the DP World Tour schedule for the first time in four years.

The field of 120 who will be playing for a record US$ 2 million purse has an exciting mix of proven winners and emerging talents at the stunning DLF Golf and Country Club layout by Gary Player.

Gallacher, who became the first Scot to lift the Hero Indian Open, finished with back-to-back birdies in 2019 to win by one. The 48-year-old’s victory was his first DP World Tour triumph since he won back-to-back titles in Dubai in 2013 and 2014.

Gallacher’s countryman Robert MacIntyre will make his Hero Indian Open debut this week as he looks to earn crucial Ryder Cup Rankings points ahead of this year’s biennial contest at Marco Simone in September, as will fellow Ryder Cup hopefuls Nicolai Højgaard and Guido Migliozzi, who both represented the triumphant Continental Europe team in last month’s Hero Cup.

Gallacher said, “I feel great. It’s 1,400-odd days since I was last here so there’s been a lot of hardship that’s happened since then but it’s great to be here and get the event played.

“There are plenty of great memories. It’s a course that’s not really changed very much, it’s in amazing condition, same as the last time we were here and I’ve got some great memories coming down the stretch. Hopefully I can replicate them this week.

“It’s just one of those courses you’ve got to be patient at; it’s not one you can force a score on. I had a poor hole on seven and then I think I had five or six birdies from then on in. Anything can happen. You’ve got to play with your head around here. Par is a good score. There’s some tough, tough holes and few you can attack but it’s just a really tough track and one of the best we play all year to be honest."

He added, “I think the bunkers are brilliant. Aesthetically they look fantastic. They’re just like back home, revettes, but I know how hard they are to maintain a revetted bunker. The elements can wear them away back home and that’s why they’re there, for a purpose, but I think they look great. You’ve got to try and stay out of them, they’re deep, but it is what it is, it’s an unbelievable golf course to play visually. It’s stunning, the bunkers make it look just so good, you’ve got the plants, big swales, it’s just a good track and I think it looks brilliant.”

Thomas Bjorn, who was the captain of the 2018 Ryder Cup winning European team, was all praise for the event and the effort put in by Dr Pawan Munjal, Chairman and CEO of Hero Motocorp, the sponsors of the National Open since 2005.

He said, “When you’ve got people Pawan Munjal who puts his heart into golf and into other sports, it’s great. He obviously runs a very successful business here in India and he’s very successful in driving that business. He’s got his heart set on supporting the game of golf and other sports. These people don’t come around very often and he’s got a great love for this game. He’s got a great relationship with Tiger, supporting his event in America; he stepped up to support the Dubai Desert Classic this year when we needed a new sponsor. He took that title and took it well and was happy with the way it developed. Then this event, at home, is important to him, it’s close to his heart and we come here as players and we can see how much it means to him.”

Thorbjørn Olesen, who won his seventh DP World Tour title at last week's Thailand Classic, will look to continue his good form upon his return to India as part of a strong Danish contingent.

“It’s been a while since I’ve been to India and it’s been on my schedule from when I made it in December. It’s still a very important week for me. There’s a break after this so I want to try my best this week to have a really good finish and see if I can climb up that Ranking a little bit more. It’s an important week, for sure.

“It’s very important, all that work I’ve put in during the winter and at the end of last year is starting to pay off. I saw glimpses of it in Abu Dhabi and Dubai and it’s just slowly getting better. Last week (in Thailand), a lot of that work clicked and I felt comfortable, which was nice.”

Fellow Dane, Nicolai Hojgaard, who won the Hero Shootout on Tuesday, said, “I’m feeling good. Looking forward to playing here in India. It’s a different week, different type of course and overall, just excited to get going again.

“Compared to last week it’s a little bit different off the tee. It’s a tight course, you get rewarded for hitting the fairways and I think this week it’s just about keeping it out of trouble and keeping the ball alive on certain holes. There are a few scoreable holes out there but it’s a difficult course. If you’re on your game you can shoot some good scores around here but if you’re slightly off-line you can get punished a bit.”

Nicolai Højgaard sets the ball rolling for Danes, wins Hero Shootout ahead of Hero Indian Open

By Deepak Arora

GURUGRAM, Feb 21: The Danes are still waiting to get their name imprinted on that amazing Hero Indian Open Trophy. But the 21-year-old Nicolai Højgaard, a two-time winner on the DP World Tour already and widely seen as a big star for the future, did set the ball rolling as he won the Hero Shootout.

Højgaard got a cheque of US$ 4,000 as the winner, while Guido Migliozzi who lost in the final, received US$ 2,000.

The prizes were given away by Dr. Pawan Munjal, Chairman and CEO of Hero MotoCorp.

Earlier in the press conference, both Højgaard and his senior colleague from Denmark, Thorbjørn Olesen, who won the Thailand Classic last week, expressed a desire to ‘go for the title’. Olesen has seven DP World Tour titles to his name.

Two days ahead of the main event, the US$ 2 million Hero Indian Open, the Hero Shootout saw eight players, seven of them pros who will be teeing up at the main event along with Dr Pawan Munjal, Chairman and CEO of Hero Motocorp.

The players were shooting from a hundred yards in the first round. Each of the eight participants were given 60 seconds to fire a maximum of nine shots at the ninth green pin with circles marking at 4, 8 and 12 feet that offered 10, 25 and 50 points and a hundred for a slam-dunk.

Højgaard, Guido Migliozzi of Italy, HIO defending champion Stephen Gallacher and fellow Scot Robert MacIntyre progressed to the second round.

Migliozzi aggregated the best score of 270 points in the first round, followed by MacIntyre (170) while Højgaard and Gallacher were tied on 120 points.

In the first round, crowd favourite Shiv Kapur, former Ryder Cup captain Thomas Bjørn of Denmark and local boy Manu Gandas were eliminated with Dr Munjal being handed a bye into the second round.

The second round was a shot from 115 yards out and no time limit on the six shots was applicable. Højgaard tallied 145 points, while Migliozzi had 125 and moved into the final, where the young Dane nailed the title with a total of 70 points from 120 yards again. This time too they had six tries and no clock running. Migliozzi failed to score.

A total of US$10,000 was on offer and it included US$ 4,000 for the winner and US$ 2,000 for the runner-up. The two losing semi-finalists received US$ 1,000 each and the first round losers got US$ 500.

Scot MacIntyre aces 16th as Olesen, Højgaard vie to be first Danes to win Hero Indian Open

By Deepak Arora

GURGUGRAM, Feb 21: Robert MacIntyre is an elegant left-hander with a lot of grit and determination but still feels that the DLF Golf and Country Club is going pose a stiff challenge as he sets out to win the US$ 2 million Hero Indian Open trophy that his countryman Stephen Gallacher won at the last staging in 2019.

Saying the course would be a mental test, he added, “I would be amazed if you see double digits this week. It’s a mental test more than anything.” Yet, MacIntyre had a hole-in-one on the 16th, which every player admits is the start of the three toughest finishing holes on any course on the DP World Tour.

Sporting a big smile, MacIntyre said, “Yeah, on 16 I hit a clean 245 and like my caddy said just anywhere on that green. It was a full swipe with a 4-iron. It looked good, it was just right at the pin, landed and (I) couldn’t see it. I went down and thought that could be in the hole, it was a good line. I got like 50 yards from the green and there wasn’t a ball and we could see the pitch mark of the shot and it was one!” An ace it was, albeit two days before the main event and it will be some act to follow but MacIntyre is ready for the challenge.

As usual, the Indian contingent is very big and strong as they always are on home turf. The two-time winner, SSP Chawrasia, who won the 2017 Hero Indian Open at this very layout and had also won another European Tour event back in 2011 at the older course. Now back for another shot at the title, the four-time European Tour winner said the event means a lot. “To be honest it’s a very important tournament for us Indians golfers. You get a good opportunity to play on the European (DP World) Tour so our guys can get more chances if they do well here.”

Adding his weight to the DP World tied up with PGTI, he said, “I think it’s a good thing as more Indians can graduate from the Indian tour to a much higher level. Already the winner of last year’s Order of Merit, Manu Gandas has a full card for this year for Europe.”

Speaking about his mantra for the course, he said, “I like to hit it straight and if I can get on the green with 10 feet or less to putt, I always back myself. Shoot straight and keep the putt numbers low was the way for me in the past and it worked pretty well.”

Thorbjørn Olesen and Nicolai Højgaard, who lead a strong contingent of Danes at the Hero Indian Open, said they were looking forward to the event. Olesen has played the Hero Indian Open previously at this venue, but it was before it was re-designed by Gary Player.

Olesen said, “I haven’t played this course before. Well, when I played here it was a very different course. It was the old course which was a short but tricky golf course. (This time) I have only managed to play 5 or 6 holes here and it looks very different from what I remember from the old course. But I think all the guys have said a lot about the golf course and what you need to do and it’s going to be a different week.”

As for the finishing stretch, he added, “The 16th, 17th and 18th which is like an uphill climb and has the waterfall. I haven’t played it yet,” added Olesen, who in the 2018 Ryder Cup singles, beat Jordan Spieth 5&4.

MacIntyre added, “I’ve heard a lot of stories about how difficult and almost wild it is. I played the back nine today and stood on the 15th I thought ‘this is alright here, we can deal with this’, and then the last three and a half holes blew my mind a little bit. It’s the same for everyone, it’s just different and it’s going to be difficult. It’s a mental test rather than a test of your golf game. This week is the first week of the new season that I’ve got a calm head.”

India Thrash New Zealand By 168 Runs, Secure T20 Series 2-1

AHMEDABAD, Feb 1: ND vs NZ, 3rd T20I Highlights:Maiden T20I century from Shubman Gill and a four-wicket haul from Hardik Pandya guided Team India to a thumping 168-run victory over New Zealand in the third and final T20I match at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Wednesday.

Opted to bat first, Team India posted a massive total of 234/4 in 20 overs after Gill remained unbeaten at 126* off 63 balls and Rahul Tripathi also smashed 44 off 22 balls.

For New Zealand, Ish Sodhi, Michael Bracewell, Blair Tickner, and Daryl Mitchell scalped one-wicket each. Later, Hardik Pandya scalped four wickets while Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik, and Shivam Mavi scalped two wickets each as the visitors got bundled out for 66. With this win, Team India clinched the three-match series 2-1.