Event
The Hero Indian Open 2017 is set for yet another exciting staging as an all-time best star cast of Indian golf is ready for one of the strongest international fields assembled at the Hero Indian Open.
Set at the picturesque but challenging Gary Plyer layout at the DLF Golf and Country Club, the Hero Indian Open 2017 boasts of every single star Indian golf has seen in the last two decades and more. Coupled with the cast from Europe and Asia, which has a host of champions and in-form players will set the stage for another truly classic edition of Hero Indian Open.
Headlining this list of 144 players ill be one of the most consistent golfers on european Tour, Spaniard Rafa Cabrera Bello, who divides his time between European and PGA Tours.
The highest ranked player in the field, Rafa, rose from World No. 114 in December 2015 to No. 27 at the end of December 2016 and then No. 25 a couple of weeks ago. He is currently No. 26. This year Cabrera-Bello had a great start in Middle East with three Top-20 finishes – T-19 in Abu Dhabi, T-6 in Qatar and T-11 in Dubai.
Last year in 2016, he had six Top-10 finishes, including three second places – in Qatar, Dubai and Hong Kong – and missed just one cut in 27 starts around the world. Rafa also played at the Rio Olympic Games and finished fifth, just as two others in this field – Kiradech Aphibarnrat and Marcus Fraser. At the Ryder Cup he scored 2.5 points from three matches, all together making him one of the most consistent players in the world.
Among the other top global stars will be three of the last 4 winners of the Asian Tour Order of Merit , Scott Hend of Australia, India’s own Anirban Lahiri and Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat.
The field includes a whole bunch of in-form players – four winners from the five events held in 2017 on Asian Tour and 15 winners, who won on either European or Asian Tour and some on both in 2016.
In addition, eight Asian Tour Order of Merit winners, who have 10 Merit titles; 11 past champions who have 14 Indian Opens between them and at least three players, who have been past No. 1s in World Amateur rankings feature in the field.
The past three years have seen one of the most riveting rivalries in Indian golf – one between Anirban Lahiri and SSP Chawrasia and their stage has been the Hero Indian Open . Neither has finished below second in last three editions. If 2013 saw both of them finish in a tie for second behind neighbour, Siddikur Rahman of Bangladesh, the following yeear saw Lahiri pip Chawrasia at the very end. In 2016, Chawrasia got his moment in the sun as lahiri finished second.
It also ended a 17-year long wait for Chawrasia, who from 1999 had finished runner-up no less than four times – in 1999, 2006, 2013 and 2015. An emotional Chawrasia admitted, “The win lifted a big weight of my head and heart.”
Chawrasia, one of the most successful Indian golfers – only the ‘Big Three’ – Jeev Milkha Singh, Jyoti Randhawa and Arjun Atwal; Lahiri and Gaganjeet Bhulla have won more titles than his five. However, only Jeev (4) has more European Tour titles than Chawrasia, whose three successes are matched only by Atwal.
Lahiri and Chawrasia played for Asia at the EurAsia Cup last year and then again at the Olympic Games in Rio. Now, they will be looking to resume their battles at the Hero Indian Open 2017. While Lahiri went back to the US to ply his trade, Chawrasia won his first title outside India, when he won in Manila late last year.
Gaganjeet Bhullar, who went through a rough two-year patch, has found his rhythm once again. It was seen in the form of two wins – one each in South Korea and Indonesia respectively. Rashid Khan, who won twice in 2015, had a modest 2016, but is once again getting into the form that made him one of the exciting youngsters to watch back in the day.
While these youngsters were carving out a name for themsleves in 2016, the 51-year old grizzled veteran Mukesh Kumar, who estimates that he has over a 100 domestic tites in the last 30 years, won his first international title at the Panasonic Open India in December.
Mukesh could have his own battle with another 51-year old Prayad Marksaeng of Thailand, who has 20 international wins, the latest of which came in Singapore this January. Ten of his titles have come on Asian Tour and six of them in Japan, including two on the Seniors Tour.
Elsewhere among India’s young guns, Shubhankar Sharma, who is on a hot streak with four great finishes this season. He was T-11 in Singapore, T-9 in Myanmar, T-4 in Dhaka and T-9 in Malaysia – is itching to tee off at the DLF Golf nd Country Club, which he calls as his home course, even though he spends a lot of time in Chandigarh with his coach, Jesse Grewal.
Rubbing shoulders with Shubhankar is another precocious young star, S Chikkarangappa, who considers Lahiri as his ‘elder’ brother and mentor. They also share the same coach, Vijay Divecha. Chikka, turned pro in 2013 and for the first two seasons, he was second on the Merit list, and then he topped it in 2015. In 2016, despite playing fewer events, as he played more on the Asian Tour, Chikka was still sixth.
Former champions, three time winner Jyoti Randhawa, two time winner Thaworn Wiratchant, Mardan Mamat, Siddikur Rahman, David Gleeson, Liang Wen-Chong, Arjun Atwal and Feroze Ali will also be looking to hold the coveted trophy once again come Sunday.
Course
The Gary Player Course is an 18-hole, Par-72 course measuring 7654 yards from the Gold tees. This signature design was fully opened in October 2015 and is the second course at the DLF Golf & Country Club.
The course has two large lakes, big land forms, large undulating greens and unique style bunkering amongst its various features. The front nine offers a par-3 with an island green while the closing holes are built around a quarry and a large lake with massive rock formations.
Strategy is the key to successfully negotiating the course, which can play very different depending on the tees you play from. Golfers can choose to play from six different tees – Gold, Black, Blue, White, Red and Yellow. The Gary Player course has successfully hosted the Hero Women’s Indian Open in 2015, a Ladies European Tour event, amongst various other corporate golf events.
Widely recognized as the world’s most successful golf course architectural firm, Gary Player Design is renowned for its select and ecological approach to design. DLF took a lead in creating not only an excellent golf facility, but also a township around golf, which has become a model to follow across the country. The course is a scenic parkland design with dramatic landscape enhanced by ambient lighting.
Past Champions
2016 – SSP Chawrasia
2015 – Anirban Lahiri
2014 – No event
2013 – Siddikur Rahman
2012 – Thaworn Wiratchant
2011 – David Gleeson
2010 – Rikard Karlberg
2009 – C Muniyappa
2008 – Liang Wen Chong
2007 – Jyoti Randhawa
2006 – Jyoti Randhawa
2005 – Thaworn Wiratchant
2004 – Mardan Mamat
