Bhatia, Molinari the top draw as Indian Open tees off

The 10th hole will be the centre of attention when Akshay Bhatia tees off at the Hero Indian Open on Thursday morning but the 24-year-old will not be the only one hoping to conquer what is generally considered one of the toughest courses on the tour.

The DLF Golf & Country Club has remained a difficult venue for even the best in the business. Besides Bhatia, the hottest talent on the PGA Tour at the moment, Italian Francesco Molinari will be the other top draw, the 43-year-old a former Open winner (2018) and part of the victorious European Ryder Cup team thrice but hasn’t really peaked since then.

“There’s been a bit of a dip but obviously I am trying to improve from where I am and trying to get some more wins. Even with the results not being what I wanted the last few years, I still enjoy practising on my own, trying to find something that might work,” Molinari said on the eve of the event.

Other top players include Casey Jarvis (69), a two-time winner already on the DP World Tour this year and defending champion Eugenio Chacarra, who became the first Spaniard to win the title. “It was a life-changing week last year and I feel like the good vibes again. I feel it’s a really good test of golf. It’s one of the few courses that you need to hit every shot that you have in the bag, you can’t really have any negatives in your game or you get exposed very easily,” Chacarra said.

Among the home hopefuls will be rising stars Kartik Singh and Shubham Jaglan along with Veer Ahlawat, joint runner-up last year, Shubhankar Sharma, Yuvraj Sandhu and Rayhan Thomas, aiming to become the first home champion since SSP Chawrasia in 2017.