Hero Indian Open – the country’s National Open and flagship golf tournament – is set to return later this month – after a three-year break due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
To be held between February 23-26, 2023 at the DLF Golf & Country Club, the event will see a high-powered field of star players, including defending champion Stephen Gallacher, 2018 Ryder Cup-winning captain Thomas Bjørn, his fellow Ryder Cup teammate Thorbjørn Olesen, Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre and the rising star from Denmark, Nicolai Højgaard.
This year, the DP World Tour tournament will touch the landmark figure of US$ 2 million as prize purse for the first time and host a field of 120 players from over 20 countries.
The tournament gains immense significance with its 2750 ‘Race to Dubai’ ranking points and 2,000 ‘Ryder Cup’ points. With the top 10 players from the DP World Tour, who are not otherwise exempt, also getting a card to the PGA Tour, there is an added incentive for the players.
The winner will receive a handsome US$ 340,000, while the runner-up picking up US$ 220,000 and the third-place finisher pocketing US$ 126,000. The fourth-place fetches US$ 100,000.
Gallacher, the first Scotsman to win the Hero Indian Open, will be joined by fellow Scot, MacIntyre, a left-hander with immense talent and a Top-100 player, who was in Top-50 in 2021. MacIntyre won the 2022 Italian Open, which had World No.1 Rory McIlroy and Matthew Fitzpatrick in the field.
Part of the 2014 Ryder Cup winning team, Gallacher had his son on the bag when he won the Hero Indian Open in 2019. Gallacher, two years away from being eligible to join the Legends Tour in Europe for players above 50, will be joined by another legend, Thomas Bjørn, the winning Ryder Cup Captain in 2018 and 15-time DP World Tour winner.
Europe’s rising star, Nicolai Højgaard, will make his first visit to India, as will six-time DP World Tour winner Thorbjørn Olesen, a member of the European Ryder Cup team under Bjorn in 2018. Olesen ended a four-year title drought in 2022 with a win at the Betfred British Masters hosted by Danny Willett.
While Gallacher, a two-time winner of the marquee Hero Dubai Desert Classic, won India’s National Open on his debut at the event, MacIntyre, Olesen and Højgaard will be making their maiden trip to India.
Højgaard has two DP World Tour titles, one each in 2021 and 2022. He will turn 22 a little over two weeks after the Hero Indian Open and will be gunning for an early birthday present.
Højgaard also played on the winning Continental Europe team beating Great Britain & Ireland in the Hero Cup last month. Interestingly, Nicolai replaced his then-injured twin brother Rasmus in the team after he was ruled out due to injury.
Bjorn won the Mauritius Open on the Legends Tour in December.
Shubhankar Sharma, who got off to a flying start at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, the first strokeplay event of 2023 on the DP World Tour, will spearhead the strong home challenge, which will include Hero Brand Ambassador Shiv Kapur and two-time Hero Indian Open winner SSP Chawrasia.
Shubhankar at one stage was in shared lead at Abu Dhabi, a Rolex Series event, in which he was runner-up in 2022.
He has already qualified for the 151st Open to be held at Royal Liverpool in the same week in which he will turn 27.
Manu Gandas, who earned a card into the DP World Tour because of the latest alliance between the PGTI, DP World Tour and PGA Tour, will also be seen in action. Gandas had an outstanding season in 2022, when he won six domestic Tour events and topped the Order of Merit to earn a card to the DP World Tour.
