New Delhi: If the 2025 edition was a precursor, here comes the real deal. Headlined by six-time Major winner Rory McIlroy, defending champion Tommy Fleetwood, current PGA Championship winner Aaron Rai, reigning Open champion Ryan Fox, and 2019 Open winner Shane Lowry, the second edition of the $4 million DP World India Championship has attracted the shining stars of golf to the lush and iconic Delhi Golf Club (DGC). it’s the here and now that one is more bothered about While the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) is chuffed at the star cast and is upbeat about the domino effect an event of such magnitude will likely have on the sport.
That win came just six months after Shubhankar Sharma won the Maybank Championship in Kuala Lumpur, raising hopes of consistent Indian results. Eight years on, while Indian pros have been making the right noises at home, overseas wins have dried up. The last time an Indian won an event on the European Tour — now known as DP World Tour— was in 2018 when Gaganjeet Bhullar won the tri-sanctioned Fiji International. At the inaugural DP World India Championship, only five of the 26 Indians in the field made the cut with Shiv Kapur’s T32 the best Indian finish.
PGTI CEO and DGC captain Amandeep Johl has set a realistic expectation — half of the Indian entries making the cut. the likes of Anirban Lahiri and Shubhankar Sharma are busy re-acquainting themselves with a course they have grown up on While that will soon be put to test. “We have a conveyer belt of some really exceptional young golfers. Yes, we’ve had a few lean years and there haven’t been any international wins on any tours, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have the talent. There is enough to work with. I believe that the golf has grown. “At the end of the day, it’s about your mindset and how you prepare for the challenges you’ll face abroad. I don’t think Indian golf courses, and the set-ups that a lot of Indian tours are playing, best prepare you for what you face abroad. It was the same during my time. You have to adapt, be agile, be able to think and prepare for, okay, what am I going to face when I play the DP World Tour or whichever tour. “I think the conditions of the course this week are very similar to last week. You’re going to have to hit your irons really, really well.
“The greens being as firm as they are and after the recontouring of the greens, you’re not going to get a lot of tap-ins and 4 or 5-footers. Not necessarily 3- and 5-woods and hybrids. A lot of irons; 2-irons even.
Because you’re also going to hit a lot of irons off the tee, this week is all about iron play.
There has been more professional opportunities now,” Lahiri said. So, it comes down to how you train and how your support team is managing that,” Lahiri, who will play after a seven-week break, said. “That backfired because I didn’t find what I needed, and I remember last year at this time I was saying the same thing,” Shubhankar, who is coming off a win at the Kapil Dev Invitational last week, said. I think I have the equipment and the mindset to do what I need to do,” Shubhankar said. Whoever hits his irons the best and has a good week on the greens is going to have a great week,” Lahiri said.
