Freddy Schott carded a six under par 66 to lead by one from defending champion Eugenio Chacarra after the first round of the 2026 Hero Indian Open.
Related: Eugenio Chacarra ready for title defence at Hero Indian Open
The German, winner of last month’s Bapco Energies Bahrain Championship, made a superb start at DLF Golf & Country Club with six birdies in his first 12 holes.
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Bogeys at the 14th and 17th brought him back to the pack, particularly as Chacarra finished strongly, but on both occasions, he responded with a birdie at the next to get back to six under.
Chacarra was one over par through five holes after bogeys at the second and the fifth, but he bounced back with six birdies to sign for a five under 67.
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A pinpoint approach to the seventh proved the kick-start his round needed, setting up the first of two successive gains to ensured he was under par at the turn.
Another pair at the tenth and 11th, the later after a beautifully-judged pitch, and a fifth in seven holes at the 13th took him level with Dan Bradbury and as Schott battled with the difficult closing stretch, Chacarra birdied the 18th before Schott responded in kind.
Bradbury started on the back nine with three birdies and added another at the first.
Bogeys at the fourth and sixth threatened to stop his momentum but he responded in style by birdieing his last two holes for a 68.
Niklas Nørgaard posted a three under par 68 he shared fourth place with Martin Couvra, Calum Hill and Gregorio De Leo on three under, with a further nine players at two under.
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Round one was suspended at 6:40pm local time due to darkness and will resume at 7:35am tomorrow.
Player quotes
Freddy Schott: I’m very pleased, I was really solid out there today and it was pretty much a flawless round of golf. Two drops but at least those were the most difficult holes so it’s alright. I guess it might be the hardest course this year. Your game has to be so good overall, there’s not a thing which can leak.
You’ve got to be very good off the tee to actually give yourself some chances, you’ve got to be good into the greens, hit the right areas, and make your putts so it’s a really tough, testing golf course. We said we’re going to be conservative off the tee most of the time, and then be aggressive into the greens when we’ve got a wedge in hand. Wedging was good today, putting was good, so that led to that score.
It was obviously a massive confidence-booster for the year, winning in Bahrain, but I just want to keep on going and see where that leads me and hopefully we can have a nice week out here.
Eugenio Chacarra: It was a 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 I’m very pleased, like I said yesterday it’s a course that you need to be patient. The good vibes came out on Monday, I came out here and I started hitting it good, so I need to come here more often.
It was solid, I think we did a tremendous job staying patient, playing the shot that’s required on this course. The greens are getting firm, it was pretty tough – there’s no rain coming and they didn’t put water on, I think it’s going to be a really great test over the next couple of days. It’s a course that obviously can go both ways so I’m just happy that it came my way today and happy that I fought until the end.
I just think it’s a real golf course. You hit every club in the bag, you can’t really have a weakness – you need to hit it good from the tee, you need to have a good approach, the landing areas are small. You need to putt good, the greens are firm and fast and it’s hard to read them. It’s a tricky course, it’s obviously been great to me but it’s just a hard course all round. You need to play solid and I think it just suits my game because you need every shot and to move the ball both ways pretty well, and I tend to do that.
It’s a week that changed my life, I’m here because of last (year), so obviously thankful to Hero for giving me the opportunity back in the day and it’s just lovely to be here. I love the tournament, I love the country, I love the course so it’s just good vibes and try to have as much fun as possible when I’m playing.
Dan Bradbury: It was very solid to be honest and a really nice way to finish. I played steady all day except one where I hit it in the jungle but managed to escape the bogey and just kept it in play.
Driving accuracy and course management is so important this week. There are a lot of holes that you need to just sort of get it in play and accept if you are 40 yards further back but, in the fairway, that’s fine and then hit it on the right spots. If you’re below the ridges, it’s nasty but being above the hole is even worse. So, being patient, picking the right shots and driving it well.
My game is pretty good. I’m in a pretty good place and enjoying things as much as we can.
