Youngster Kochhar has been consistent over the last 3 seasons
The highly anticipated 57th edition of the Hero Indian Open commenced on Thursday, March 28th, at the stunning DLF Golf & Country Club, Gurgaon. Only 8 Indians made the cut off for the top 65 and ties – at a score of -1 or better for 36 holes.
Young Veer Ahlawat, who has been a consistent performer on the PGTI and Asian Tours, led the home contingent at 6th place on 9 under, 6 strokes behind the leader at -14.
Other Indians making the cut include Aman Raj (8th place at -7); Karandeep Kochhar and Manu Gandas (16th at -6); Gaganjeet Bhullar (22nd at -5); Rashid Khan (31st at -4); Shubhankar Sharma (31st at -4 with two holes to play), Jairaj Sandhu (50th at -2) ;
Play was suspended at 5.30 pm on Friday with a few groups yet to finish. Players who have yet to finish their 2nd rounds will return at 7.30 am Saturday morning with the 3rd round beginning after 10.30 am.
This year, a total of 64 players scored under-par or better in the opening round, whereas in 2023, only 24 players did, while in the previous two editions 2019 and 2018, the number was 45 and 34 scoring under par in round one, respectively. Players explained that the greens were not as fast as previous years, making it easier to score.
Last year, a total of 16 Indian players survived the 36-hole cut, compared to the 8 this year.
Big names like Anirban Lahiri, Shiv Kapur and others failed to make it to the weekend and other well known Indian stars like SSP Chawrasia ( 2 time Indian Open winner); Jeev Milkha Singh, Jyoti Randhawa ( 3 time Indian Open champion) and Arjun Atwal were not invited to play at all.
Photo – Hero Indian Open