Indi star Anirban Lahiri in action on the opening day of the $2 million International Series India presented by DLF on Thursday. Image courtesy Asian Tour.
By Rahul Banerji
Eugenio Chacarra shot a closing 6 under-par 30 that included an eagle on his penultimate hole, to take the clubhouse lead on the opening day of International Series India presented by DLF, but it was Bryson DeChambeau who stole the headlines on Thursday.
The Spaniard fired a 4 under 68 to lead from Filipino Justin Quiban and Danthai Boonma from Thailand, who returned 70s at the testing DLF Golf and Country Club though Japan’s Kazuki Higa was alongside having completed 15 holes.
Mexico’s Carlos Ortiz and Sweden’s Charlie Lindh were the next best placed in the clubhouse on 1 under 71s, two of only six to break par on a fog-delayed opening day. Behind them, India star Anirban Lahiri holed a par putt in near darkness to ensure he was even for the day and the best Indian at shared 13th place.
In all, 42 players were unable to finish their opening 18 holes rounds.
Higa was at four under with three to play when darkness fell with Aaron Wilkin from Australia on three under with six to play. US Open champion DeChambeau and fellow LIV Golf star, Joaquin Niemann from Chile were two under with two remaining.
Bryson’s wizardry
However, it was DeChambeau who hogged the headlines with the sort of magic the huge crowd following him had come to see, curving his blind second shot out of the par-5 eighth hole bunker to 15 yards of the green and chipping in for eagle.
Lahiri, a team-mate of DeChambeau at Crushers GC, was delighted with the turnout on the opening day. “I think that was one of the nicest cheers I have ever got on the first tee. That was very special. So a big thank you to the crowds that came out. Please continue to come out. That was a wonderful feeling.
“The atmosphere was electric. I think there were a few of us Indians standing on the putting green waiting to tee off, saying, ‘Man, we have not felt this in the air for so long’. So, hats off to everyone for that.
“Other than that, I think I played pretty terribly. I hit my irons all over the place and did not have a half decent look at birdie till the ninth. I scrambled really well today.
“Didn’t have my best. I just need to keep playing to get into rhythm, where you start seeing shots and feeling shots and shaping shots. But I’m very happy with the way I dug my heels.
Slip-ups
“Had a couple of places where I gave away some shots, but that can happen here on a course like DLF. Some extreme tough pin positions out there. But you have to expect that.”
Chacarra initially battled to get to grips with the Gary Player-designed course. He made a triple bogey seven on 13 and followed that with bogey on the following hole.
The young Spaniard however bounced back with three successive birdies. He dropped a shot on 18 before a stunning homeward half, made up of the eagle, four birdies and bogeys.
“It feels good to be back,” said the 24-year-old, a winner on the Asian Tour at the 2023 St Andrews Bay Championship, also part of The International Series.
Hard at work
“I’ve been grinding on my body, on my game, and it’s been a great off season. I mean I was four over through four, I feel like I didn’t even miss a shot. I mean, the first three holes, I had three good looks for birdie, and I was even par.
“Then I hit a good iron that bounced, I think it hit a sprinkler head or something. It almost went by the fence, and I made a seven without any bad shots. But I still came back.”
Gaganjeet Bhullar’s first day was a tale of two halves. Starting from Tee 10, he dropped two shots in his opening three holes, and was three over at halfway before fighting back with three birdies over the last six on the front nine to finish with a one-over 73.
Bhullar, who took 29 putts on the day, said: “It was good to get those close to the finish. The course set-up was challenging and there was a lot of headwind at some of the holes, too. I also missed a few fairways.”
Good recovery
Ajeetesh Sandhu birdied the 15th and parred the last three holes in fading light to join Bhullar at one over at a provisional T21.
Other Indian scores included Jeev Milkha Singh at par after playing with an injured finger, which he suffered while playing with his dog.
Jeev had six holes left. Rahil Gangjee had a 75, while S.S.P. Chawrasia was three over after 16 holes, Manu Gandas was also three over after 11, and Karandeep Kochhar four over after 12.
Shiv Kapur and amateur Kartik Singh finished on 5 over 77s while Shubhankar Sharma, Rashid Khan and Yuvraj Sandhu were six over after a testing day.
Abhinav Lohan was seven over and Honey Baisoya was 12 over and both had six holes left to play on Friday morning.
Also read: DeChambeau is all the focus on International Series India eve
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