Hero Indian Open winner Eugenio Chacarra of Spain with Hero MotoCorp executive chairman Dr Pawan Munjal at the DLF Golf and Country Club in Gurgaon on Sunday. Image courtesy HIO.
By Rahul Banerji
Sponsor invitee Eugenio Chacarra became the first Spanish winner of the $2.25 million 58th Hero Indian Open, by two shots at the DLF Golf and Country Club in Gurgaon on Sunday.
The 25-year-old survived a rocky start that saw him drop three shots in the first three holes came storming back with a birdie blitz to relegate defending champion Keita Nakajima of Japan to second place.
Luck played a part too in the result with Chacarra slamming a chip-on into the flagpole for birdie and escaping with bogey from a difficult spot on the penultimate hole.
Chacarra (70-70-73-71) totalled 4 under par 284 ahead of Nakajima (74-66-74-72, 2 under 286) and Joost Luiten (69-73-74-71, 1 under 287) of the Netherlands in third place.
It was a maiden DP World Tour for Chacarra who started the week with a win in the Hero Pro-Am. He received the glittering trophy and a $382,500 cheque from Hero MotoCorp executive chairman Dr Pawan Munjal.
Persistence pays
The persevering Nakajima picked up a $247,500 payout he ensured with a birdie on the 72nd and final hole of the championship.
Om Prakash Chouhan, Gaganjeet Bhullar and 2024 joint runner-up Veer Ahlawat were the best-finishing Indians in their home Open taking a share of 17th place on 8 over par 296.
Bhullar was unlucky to go bogey-double bogey in his last two holes to drop out of the top 10 in a tournament marked by difficult conditions and high scores. Only the top three and fourth-placed Swede Jens Dantorp finished on par or better.
Asked about his feelings as winner, an emotional Chacarra said, “Obviously, I need to start by thanking Hero MotoCorp and Dr Pawan Munjal for giving me a chance to compete. Very grateful for that opportunity.
“Without them, I probably would not have been here. So thanks Hero, and everyone involved with Hero. I appreciate it, and you guys probably changed my life today.
“It was a tough day. We knew it was going to be a long day, going be a lot of pressure and I didn’t have the start that I really wanted to without missing shots.
“But we know how this course is. The wind changes for one second and then you’re like 20 yards short. So, but I think I did a great job all week staying patient.
Divine assistance
“I think, don’t know, God was helping me today. I got a couple of good bounces. That chip on 14 and that ball on 17, they were good shots and then they ended up in the bad spots.
“I think I got some good bounces and you need some like that to win. But very proud, I don’t have words right now.
“Stayed patient. I know when I play my best, I’m one of the best players in the world. I already proved that a million times. It is going to need to sink in, but really proud and I’m just, just happy.”
Nakajima, looking for back-to-back wins at the event opened with two bogeys in the first three holes and then reeled off 11 pars before finishing with birdies on 15 and 18 for his second runner-up finish in a row after the Porsche Singapore Classic last week..
The other Indian finishers were Ajeetesh Sandhu (78) at T31, Shubhankar Sharma (75) at T43, Shaurya Bhattacharya (79) at T54 and Shiv Kapur (83) T60 alongside Kshitij Naveed Kaul (75).
Sachin Baisoya (82) was 64th, Jairaj Singh Sandhu (81) was 65th, Saptak Talwar (88) was 66th and Aman Raj (85) 67th.
Amidst all the drama at the top, Italy’s Andrea Pavan made a hole-in-one at the Par-3 12th from 189 yards, the third ace of the week.
Also read: Chacarra edges ahead late on tough day at Hero Indian Open
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