[the_ad id="4004"]
[ad_1]
The Hero Indian Open returns to the DP World Tour for the first time since 2019 at DLF Golf and Country Club.
The last time it was held, Scot Stephen Gallacher claimed victory by one shot over Japan’s Masahiro Kawamura. Due to Covid-19 restrictions, Gallacher has had to wait four years to defend his trophy, but he finally gets the chance this week. That win was also the most recent of Gallacher’s four victories on the Tour, and he will be looking to end that barren run this week.
He will be joined by compatriot and Ryder Cup hopeful Robert MacIntyre, who will be making his maiden appearance in the tournament. Another player with aspirations of appearing at the Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in September for Luke Donald’s Team Europe is Nicolai Hojgaard, who is also playing in the tournament for the first time. Both players appeared in last month’s Hero Cup, albeit on opposing sides, with Højgaard’s Continental Europe team claiming the win overseen by Donald.
Other players who were involved in that tournament also appear this week, namely Guido Migliozzi and Victor Perez. The latter will be particularly confident of a strong performance given his recent win on the Tour, when he claimed his maiden Rolex Series title in the HSBC Abu Dhabi Championship at Yas Links last month.
Local favourite SSP Chawrasia has won the tournament twice, in 2016 and 2017, and he returns this year hoping for a hat-trick. Still, that most recent victory was his last of four on the Tour, so he’ll have his work cut out to recover that form of six years ago, despite also finishing runner-up twice, in 2013 and 2015.
Another player hoping to perform well in his homeland is Manu Gandas. The 26-year-old topped the TATA Steel Professional Golf Tour of India Order of Merit after six wins in 2022 and after earning his playing privileges has now competed in the last three DP World Tour events. He finished a creditable tie for 28th last week and will hope the home crowd can spur him on to even greater success here.
Another local player and former winner who won’t be competing this week is Anirban Lahiri, who claimed victory in 2015. He is now a LIV Golf player and will be teeing it up in the season opener at Mexico’s El Camaleon Golf Club instead.
Dane Thorbjorn Olesen won the Thailand Classic last week for his seventh victory on the Tour, and he goes in search of the his eighth to strengthen his chances of playing in the Ryder Cup. Meanwhile, the player he beat by four…
..
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Golf Monthly RSS Feed…
[ad_2]
[the_ad id="4005"]