Gurugram, March 26 – Defending champion Eugenio Chacarra, who held the Hero Indian Open Trophy after winning the 2025 edition of the event, put himself in a strong position to potentially become a two-time champion on Thursday.
The Spaniard, who called his 2025 win "life-changing," turned 26 on Monday and celebrated with a 67, scoring 5 under par in the opening round. He was one stroke behind leader Freddy Schott of Germany, who carded 66, scoring 6 under par.
Schott had two bogeys on the 14th and 17th holes, which led to a 5 under score, but he made an eighth birdie on the 18th to take the lead with a 66.
With the course proving to be challenging, only 31 players broke par, and none of them were Indian.
Veer Ahlawat, the PGTI Order of Merit winner in 2024 and runner-up in the 2024 HIO, was the best-placed Indian with a round of even par 72, with six birdies, two bogeys, and two double bogeys. He was tied 32nd.
Playing on a sponsor's invitation, 16-year-old Kartik Singh was among the next best Indian players with a 73, scoring 1 over par, alongside Om Prakash Chouhan, a former PGTI Order of Merit winner, Kshitij Naved Kaul, and Mohd Azhar, who had one more hole to play. They were tied 41st.
Schott, 24, is trying to emulate his mentor, Marcel Siem, who won the 2023 Indian Open. Schott spent the 2020 DPWT season as a caddie for Siem, gaining experience before turning professional in 2021.
Schott, who won his maiden DP World Tour title at the Bapco Bahrain Championship eight weeks ago, had four birdies on either side of the DLF Golf and Country Club, and dropped shots on the 14th, which was the toughest hole on the first day, and the 17th.
Schott was pleased with his round, saying, "Very, very pleased. Really solid out there today. Yes, it was pretty much a flawless round of golf. Two mistakes, but at least those were the most difficult holes, so that's okay."
He added, "I guess it might be the hardest course this year. You've got to be very good off the tee to actually give yourself some chances. You've got to be good into the greens, the right areas and then make a putt. So it's really a testing golf course."
Chacarra played his long putter well to make some great birdies and nice par saves, and was close behind Schott, who was 4 under through the first eight holes.
Chacarra, who had two bogeys in his first five holes, birdied half of his last 12 holes, including four on the back nine.
Chacarra was also pleased with his solid round, saying, "Yeah, good round, solid all round after not one of the best starts. I hit a great shot on the first and missed a short one and another great shot on the second and ended up with a bogey.
"So very pleased, like I said yesterday it's a course on which you need to be patient. The good vibes came out on Monday, I came out here and I started hitting it good, so I need to come here more often!
"I just think it's a real golf course. You hit every club in the bag, you can't really have a weakness. You need to putt good, the greens are firm and fast and it's hard to read them."
Meanwhile, Akshay Bhatia, the Hero Brand Ambassador and the highest-ranked world player, coming after his win at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill on the PGA Tour, had a rough start with a round of 77.
He shot 8 over for his first nine on the back stretch and followed that up with a 3 under 33 for a 11-shot swing between the two halves of the course. He hit the wrong ball on the 15th and ended with a triple bogey.
Bhatia said, "Glad I didn't shoot 80. Tough day, hit the wrong ball which was very unfortunate. Just didn't play good on the first nine, But 3 under on my back nine was great.
"This golf course is hard, so if I can try and get back to even par, it will be a nice comeback for me. I will never give up and that is kind of the goal.
"Tomorrow, I will try and get more comfortable with the golf course. It's a tough golf course. I hit an OB (out of bounds) on my first hole (the tenth), so it's just like you can hit shots that are 5, 10 yards off the line and just be really in a tough position."
Much before Schott and Chacarra finished, Dan Bradbury, who won the Joburg Open for his third DP World title three weeks ago, shot 4 under 68 to be the early clubhouse leader.
Five players, Niklas Norgaard of Denmark, Frenchman Martin Couvra, Scotland's Callum Hill, Italian Gregorio de Leo, and American Davis Bryant were tied for fourth place at 3 under.