Chouhan makes confident start at rain-hit DP World India C’ship

Former domestic Order of Merit champion Om Prakash Chouhan turned in a solid performance to head the home challenge at the DP World India Championship in New Delhi on Thursday. Image courtesy DP World PGTI.

Chouhan makes confident start at rain-hit DP World India Championship

By Rahul Banerji

Former DP World PGTI Order of Merit champion Om Prakash Chouhan was the best-placed of the 27 home challengers in the field after the storm-affected first day of the $4 million DP World India Championship in New Delhi on Thursday.

The experienced Mhow golfer was two shots behind clubhouse leader Denmark’s Niklas Norgaard (66) with a sturdy 4 under par 68

Chouhan, a winner on the domestic circuit this year, had six birdies and two bogeys in his opening round to share fifth place alongside four others.

Defending champion Tommy Fleetwood of England and world no. 2 Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland returned 2 under 70s after an extended thunderstorm knocked close to five hours off the day’s schedule.

DP World PGTI rankings leader Saptak Talwar also started well with three birdies and two bogeys in his 1 under 71.

Overcast skies in the morning gave way to a downpour and thunderstorm that halted play play at 11 am. In all, four hours and 50 minutes were lost before play resumed at 4 pm.

As a result, only the morning wave featuring 72 players from the field of 144 could complete their first round on the day.

Chouhan played some great approach shots through the day to set up most of his birdies as he landed it with pin-point accuracy on the greens. 

The 40-year-old, a winner of 12 professional titles, made a terrrific recovery from the rough to salvage a birdie on the hole eight.

The highlight of Chouhan’s round was a chip-in from 15 yards for birdie on the sixth.

Satisfactory outing

“I’m very satisfied with my effort considering the conditions and the long stoppage that we had to endure,” Chouhan said later. 

“Before the rain, the greens were firm and the ball was rolling out, so I had to think carefully about whether to attack the flags. After the rain, I could be more aggressive.

“I found a lot of fairways today and that set up my second shots. My experience of playing at the Delhi Golf Club for so many years obviously helped.

“I changed my putter recently and that reflected in my good putting today. I’m carrying my driver in the bag but don’t really intend to use it.”

Added Talwar of his round,“Felt like I was rolling the putts well. Just a couple of misreads here and there that I thought were good chances to make a couple of more birdies. But overall, I think I’m pleased with the start.

“I think I’m most excited about trying to build on one round after the other. If I can tidy up a few things around the greens, I feel I can look forward to a good week.”

Manu Gandas was 1 under after one hole, Anirban Lahiri was even par after five holes, Khalin Joshi was at par after three holes while Amardeep Malik and Kartik Singh were both at par through one hole.

Manoj S. and Veer Ahlawat completed their rounds on 73 and 74 respectively while Shubhankar Sharma was two-over after five holes.

Also read: Experience, youth carry home hopes at DP World India C’ship