It’s often referred to as the National Open but the Hero Indian Open has had far too few Indian winners of late. The DP World Tour co-sanctioned event last had a local winner back in 2017, and if the opening day results are an indication, the chances of this being a happy weekend look slim for the 31 Indians in the 144-strong field.
On a high-scoring day, under favourable conditions, and on a course that rewards attacking strokeplay, India’s big guns fell silent as Dutchman Joost Luiten, Japan’s Keita Nakajima, and Italy’s Matteo Manassero, all of who shot seven under, took the opening honours on Thursday.
Luiten and Nakajima, in particular, fearlessly attacked the greens while Manassero had a neat bogey-free round. Luiten, who was part of the title race deep into the fourth day of the 2023 iteration of this competition, blasted nine birdies to go with his early consecutive bogeys. Nakajima wasn’t too far behind, hitting eight bogeys to go with a solitary birdie to end a fine day.
For India, the paltry saving grace arrived in the form of OP Chouhan, Aman Raj, and Karandeep Kochhar. The trio was the best-placed among Indians after the first day’s action, each carding four under to finish tied 14th.
The 37-year-old Chouhan, who has earned the European card for the year by virtue of topping the 2023 PGTI money list, was playing with a new set of irons, and the fresh “feel” put him in the right space early in the day.
Capitalising on the morning start when the sun was not too harsh and the wind had not picked up at the DLF Golf and Country Club here, Chouhan didn’t drop a shot in the first nine holes and made birdies on the par 5 fourth, par 3 fifth, and par 5 eigth holes.
The tricky back nine was dealt with birdies on the 11th, 15th, and 17th but bogeys on the 14th and the crucial par 5 18th holes meant he slipped from tied-fifth to tied-ninth before eventually ending the day outside top 10.
Known to favour big hitters, the course still had enough for the short game. Chouhan, for instance, preferred his putting skills over range hitting, the former being an aspect of his game that he has been working on over the past few weeks. Despite missing putts on the 14th and 18th, Chouhan continued to trust his short game.
His compatriot Aman Raj had a good round too, making three birdies and a bogey (fifth hole) on the front nine and two birdies on the back.
Kochhar, 24, came into his own towards the end of the day, making three birdies and a bogey on each nine to finish an identical four-under. Shubhankar Sharma and Anirban Lahiri had a disappointing day, with the former carding two-under to finish tied 34th. Lahiri, the 2015 winner, had a horror day that has all but ended his chances of making the cut. The 36-year-old struggled for rhythm throughout the day and made seven bogeys on a forgettable day.
