Indian Open: India’s big guns fail to fire on opening day

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.
“I just got my new drivers from Europe yesterday and I liked the ball flight and feel in the ProAm on Wednesday. I am someone who relies a lot on feel, and luckily it paid off today,” he said.
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.
“The greens were firm and the wind picked up in the afternoon, but I didn’t think about the course too much. I didn’t try anything extra other than attempting to hit the fairways on the tee shot. The second shot was all about finding the greens,” Chouhan said.
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.
“My second shot was too bad on the 14th. I tried to swing hard and ended up hitting extra. The ball went to the left into the grass which had me in trouble,” he said. The par 5 18th hole, among the trickiest on the course with the twin challenge of roughs and lake, was always going to test Chouhan who hit the birdie putt wide and the ball swerved away on the slope. The resultant bogey did little to diminish Chouhan’s confidence.
“I am not disappointed. I knew if I hit the slope, the ball will roll down. I knew the risk,” he said.
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.
“I gave myself a lot of chances, maybe converted only 50 percent of those but I am glad I am giving myself chances, hitting fairways, putting it on the green, giving myself 15-20 footers and the making the pars as well. I felt good throughout the day as I was hitting the ball well,” the 28-year-old said.
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.