Germany’s Frederik Schott held the lead after day one of the Hero Indian Open 2026 at the DLF Golf and Country Club in Gurgaon on Thursday. Image courtesy DP World Tour/Getty Images.
By Rahul Banerji
Eugenio Chacarra got his Hero Indian Open title defence off to the ideal start, ending the first day a shot behind Frederik Schott of Germany in Gurgaon on Thursday.
The 26-year-old from Madrid, Spain, fired a 5 under par 67 even as Schott, 24, went one better with a closing birdie in fading light at the DLF Golf and Country Club.
Winner of the Bahrain Championship in February, Schott swapped eight birdies for two dropped shots in his 6 under 66 while Chacarra overcame a rocky start to roll in four birdies on the back nine and stay on the his rival’s heels.
England’s Dan Bradbury was in sole third place on 4 under 68 on a largely forgettable day for the 30-strong home contingent in the field.
Runner-up in 2024 Veer Ahlawat, was the only Indian to card an even par 72, with Om Prakash Chouhan, teenager Kartik Singh, Kshitij Naved Kaul and Mohd Azhar (after 17 holes) a further shot behind on 1 over 73.
Three players including Azhar could not complete their opening rounds for fading light.
Denmark’s Niklas Norgaard, young Frenchman Martin Couvra, Scotsman Calum Hill and Italy’s Gregorio De Leo shared fourth place while nine players were tied for eighth place.
Rough day
Hero brand ambassador Akshay Bhatia made a rocky start to his campaign, sending his opening drive out of bounds and then triple-bogeying hole 15 to make the turn 8 over before pulling three shots back on the second nine.
Defending champion Eugenio Chacarra was in fine fettle at the DLF course on Thursday, one shot off the pace. Image courtesy Hero Indian Open.
“Glad I didn’t shoot 80. Tough day, hit the wrong ball which was very unfortunate,” the lanky left-hander, world ranked 22, said later. “
Just didn’t play good on the first nine, But 3-under on my back nine was great.”
Schott’s reaction, predictably, was very different, as was Chacarra’s.
“Very, very pleased. Really solid out there today,” the German said.
“Yeah, was pretty much a flawless round of golf. Two drops, but at least those were the most difficult holes, so that’s alright. I guess it might be the hardest course this year.”
Added Chacarra, ““Yeah, good round, solid all round after not one of the best starts.
“I hit a great shot on the first and missed a short one and another great shot on the second and ended up with a bogey. So very pleased, like I said yesterday it’s a course that you need to be patient.”
Satisfying start
For 17-year-old Kartik Singh, playing the Hero Indian Open for the first time as a professional after an eye-catching debut last year, it was a satisfying start.
Kartik mixed four birdies with two bogeys and a triple on Thursday and noted later, “The course is in great condition and really challenging.
“I had one bad hole where I made a triple but other than that, I played pretty solid and was able to keep the ball in the fairway which is really important on this course on most of the holes.
“So that’s going to be my plan tomorrow, to just keep it in the fairway and hopefully not make any big numbers because on this course you need to avoid that.”
With three days to go, there is bound to be plenty of movement up and down the leaderboard as is usually the case on the testing DLF track.
Also read: Star-heavy Hero Indian Open set for a softer than usual start
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