Spain’s Eugenio Chacarra with his DP World India Championship trophy after winning the weather-hot event at the Delhi Golf Club on Sunday. Image coiurtesy DPWIC.
Chacarra scores tough DPWIC win to top Race to Dubai rankings
By Rahul Banerji
Eugenio Chacarra scored a merited two-shot victory in the $4 million DP World India Championship for his third win of a remarkable 2026 season at the Delhi Golf Club on Sunday.
The result carried the Spaniard’s to the top of the rankings ahead of Patrick Reed and Rory McIlroy and set up a fascinating final three events on the DP World Tour schedule in Korea, Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
Sunday’s proceedings also sealed top spot on the DP World PGTI’s Order of Merit for Saptak Talwar, who will become the fifth Indian to spend a season on the European circuit.
Talwar (71-73-72-71) totalled 1 under 287 for shared 55th place and took his season’s earnings to Rs 1.02 crore.
He will now head to the DP World Tour from the start of the new season, an advantage Manu Gandas, Om Prakash Chouhan, Veer Ahlawat and Yuvraj Sandhu — who preceded him as rankings winner — did not have.
Talwar looked back on his year, saying, “It’s been a consistent year, and I’ve grown a lot as a golfer. Much of that has come from moving between the DP World PGTI and the HotelPlanner Tour.
Great learning
“This is my fourth year on the DP World PGTI, and travelling across the country has taught me a lot—about myself and from other players. I’ve already started putting those lessons into practice and will continue doing so.
“There are plenty of positives to build on, along with areas I still need to tidy up.
“This is the culmination of a lot of good work throughout the year. I’m very happy my family could be here to share it, especially at a course that means a lot to me.”
Anirban Lahiri (70-73-69-68) overcame a disappointing 2025 result at this event to emerge as the best-placed at tied 23rd on 8 under 280 with a bogey-free run on Sunday.
Yuvraj Sandhu (75-68-72-68) was next at shared 34th on 5 under 283, followed by Chouhan (68-72-71-73) at T42 on 4 under 284, Karandeep Kochhar (3 under 285) at shared 49th, Talwar and Shiv Kapur.
On a day he needed to complete 25 holes thanks to Thursday’s lost time, Chacarra finished two shots clear of New Zealand’s Daniel Hillier on 21 under par 267 with a closing 70.
The 26-year-old Spaniard underlined his liking for Indian conditions with a second title in 19 months after the Hero Indian Open and he needed to fight off a stellar chasing pack for his fourth DP World Tour title.
Hot streak
It followed wins earlier in the season at the KLM Open and Open d’Italia in June, giving Chacarra three DP World Tour titles to his name.
Hillier (74-64-64-67) was second on 19 under 269 and his back nine charge forced Chacarra to dig deep after the Spaniard saw his six-shot lead cut to two.
Chacarra started the fourth round with a five-shot lead after signing for a 63 when the third round was finally completed on Sunday and was off the blocks quickly.
An early birdie saw the advantage swell to six strokes but his first bogey of the weekend when a par putt horseshoed out cut the cushion to four heading into the back nine.
This is where the exhausted Chacarra started to really dig deep into his reserves. He made an outstanding par save on hole 9 and repeated the feat on the tenth, saving par from 20 feet.
“I rely on my short game, and all the hard work I’ve been putting in in my putting and chipping, it paid off,” he said later.
“Winning against the best players in the world, you know, it’s a very big field. We got Rory (McIlroy), no. 2 player in the world, Tommy, Reed, probably the best field of the year with Wentworth this week.
Motivating factor
“So just to prove the world that I can beat all these guys and I can compete not even having my A game is something that gives me a lot of motivation to keep working.
“Because we’re doing the right thing, and I can keep continue development as a player.
There was one more great recovery on 16 to save par that all but sealed the result.
“It’s great, after all the hard work,” he said with the crystal trophy safely in his possession.
“I came close in the last couple of weeks and I wanted to get one quickly to get up on the rankings and I played really good.
“The last round was tough. It’s really tiring, waking up three days in a row at 4am. My body wasn’t there, I didn’t feel good.
Constant pressure
“It’s hard to have a big lead, you don’t really want to push but you want to with guys making birdies.
“I’m really proud of my short game and how I grinded and stayed patient.
“I know what I’m capable of. I was one of the best amateurs in the world and I wanted to be one of the best professional players in the world. I work really hard and I’ve got a great team surrounding me.”
On his Ryder Cup prospects ahead of next year’s edition at Adare Manor in Ireland, Chacarra added: “I told Luke (Donald, European captain) I want to be in that team by not just a pick.
“I want to get one of those six (qualifying) spots so that’s one of the goals we have as a team. I’m working really hard for it.
Also read: Two-way tie for clubhouse lead but Chacarra heads DPWIC field
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