Brysan DeChambeau in action on the opening day of the International Series golf championship at the DLF Club in Gurugram on Thursday, January 30, 2025.
| Photo Credit: Kamesh Srinivasan
The reigning PGA champion Bryson DeChambeau was the focus on the opening day of the $2 million International Series golf championship at the DLF Golf and Country Club here on Thursday.
The 32-year-old Bryson was applauded as he expressed his power and touch on a bright afternoon, but fading light ensured that he could play only 16 of the 18 holes for the day.
Bryson slipped from 4-under after the front nine, to 2-under at the end of the day. He along with 35-odd others will finish the first round on Friday morning before getting into the second round. The start of the day was delayed by an hour owing to fog, leading to the backlog.
Eugenio Chacarra of Spain led with an impressive 4-under 68, after straightening his game with a spectacular 6-under in the second half.
Understandably quite pleased with his score, Chacarra said, “It wasn’t the start that I really wanted. I was four-over after five holes. I made a triple bogey on the 13th. I hit a good shot that bounced really hard and went on the wall. That made a mess of the hole. I stayed patient, and I know it is a good course for me.”
Chacarra had started his day from the 10th hole, and had the best spell in the second half from 1 to 9.
Justin Quban and Danthai Booma were 2-under 70, while Charlie Lindh, Carlos Ortiz and Ollie Schniederians were one-under 71. There will be clarity only when everyone finishes the first round.
Among the Indians, Anirban Lahiri missed a few close putts to end with a par round.
“That was one of the nicest cheers I have ever got on the first tee. That was very special. Big thank you to the people who came out. The atmosphere was electric,” said Anirban, dismissing his own performance as “horrible”.
“I am very happy with the way I dug in. A couple of places I gave away some shots, but that can happen here because of some extreme tough pin positions,” he added.
Gaganjeet Bhullar and Ajeetesh Sandhu were one-over 73. Rahil Gangjee was 3-over 75, while Shiv Kapur was undone by a few errors in slipping to 5-over 77, the same score as the only amateur player, Kartik Singh.
Shubhankar Sharma, Rashid Khan and Yuvraj Sandhu went 6-over 78, among the other Indians who managed to finish their first round.
Published – January 30, 2025 07:23 pm IST
