Eugenio Chacarra takes a two-shot lead into an extended final day of the 2026 DP World India Championship after making nine birdies over two rounds on Saturday.
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A near five-hour delay on Day One at Delhi Golf Club has left the tournament playing catch-up, and Chacarra will return on Sunday with seven holes still to play in his third round.
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Round Two was completed on Saturday morning following long weather delays earlier in the week, with Chacarra leading at that stage on 10 under par, one clear of Scott Jamieson, after a second successive 67.
Five of his seven birdies came on Saturday morning, tempered by dropped shots at the ninth and 16th, as he played the final 13 holes of his round.
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When he got his third round under way, a bogey-free outward nine of 32 helped him to 14 under par through 11 holes, with fellow Spaniard Angel Hidalgo and Dutchman Joost Luiten his nearest pursuers at 12 under through 11 and 12 holes respectively.
Chacarra is making good progress in his bid to top the Race to Dubai Rankings delivered by DP World ahead of the current season-long leader Patrick Reed, who made the cut right on the line at level par but ended the day at six under with five holes remaining after a superb third-round showing.
Defending champion Tommy Fleetwood and Italian Gregorio De Leo were the highest placed of the 26 players who completed round three, getting to nine under par.
Fleetwood shot a bogey-free 68 while De Leo’s 66 was crowned by an eagle at the eighth, his penultimate hole.
Dan Bradbury and his playing partners Darius van Driel and David Law sprinted to complete their round before the stoppage, with the Englishman finishing the day at eight under after a double on the last.
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Laurie Canter got to seven under par for the week, more than cancelling out his opening round of 76 with a superb nine under second round effort across Friday and Saturday, followed by a two under par 70 for his third round.
Major winner Shane Lowry also got to that mark after his third round 69, getting off to a hot start with three birdies in his opening four holes.
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The third round will re-start at 6.35am on Sunday, with the final round set to begin no earlier than 9.15am.
Player quotes
Eugenio Chacarra: I think my game is good. I’m hitting the ball good. I’m putting good. Attitude is good.
Obviously they’re two of the best players in the world (Rory McIlroy and Patrick Reed), so for me to compete with them (for the Race to Dubai) I need to bring my A-game like I said and I’m trying to do that.
My team and myself are putting all we can to contend in Dubai. Obviously I need to get points, have some good weeks because those guys, they never rest. It’s always going to be a good week for them; they’re going to win.
So I need to like get my momentum going and hopefully I can keep doing that.
I just play to win, you know. I love winning. I love being in contention on Sunday. That’s what I play every week for, to have a chance to win the tournament the last nine holes on Sunday.
Dan Bradbury: just got a little bit of momentum there, four in a row. But I was just sort of standing there every tee just trying to make a birdie.
Left a few putts there short at the end and didn’t finish how we wanted, but to be honest, it happens round this golf course. One bad swing, and, yeah, make a six. Overall a good day.
You’ve got hit it straight and it punishes bad shots. I think sometimes a few courses we play, you feel like you play well and play better than the person you’re playing with and they hit it offline and get away with it and you can’t get away with it out here.
Yeah, hopefully just keep it in play tomorrow and keep hitting good shots and hole the putts.
We just sent Darius running from the eighth green to the ninth tee there to try and finish. Yeah, very, very helpful. That’s an extra two, maybe three hours in bed. Played 28 holes today. Need the rest tonight.
Shane Lowry: I got off to a great start and got myself back in the tournament. Then I just went stale on the back nine. Played all right, but just couldn’t convert any chances.
But like I was going out this morning, honestly I was half packing my bags to go home. I had 12 holes left (of the second round). Thought I needed to shoot 4-under in the 12 holes and shot 7, so yeah, pretty happy with my whole day’s work.
Had 30 holes and shot 10-under for 30 holes. You know, hopefully I can go out and shoot a low one tomorrow. I’m too far back, but hopefully I can.
Been a tough year. Few near misses. I lost a bit of confidence from that. To get to Ireland and do what I did was amazing. I think no matter what happens tomorrow or the rest of the year, I’ll sit down at Christmas and have the Amgen Irish Open trophy on the table and I’ll be happy with what I have.
