Spain’s Chacarra edges into Hero Indian Open lead on brutal third day

HEADING: Spain’s Chacarra edges into Hero Indian Open lead on brutal third day 

INTRO: Eugenio Chacarra battled his way into a one-shot 54-hole lead at the $2.25 million Hero Indian Open at the testing DLF Golf and Country Club on Saturday with defending champion Keita Nakajima of Japan hard on the Spaniard’s heels. 

CAPTION: Eugenio Chacarra of Spain on his way into the day three lead of the Hero Indian Open at the DLF Golf and Country Club in Gurgaon on Saturday. Image courtesy Getty Images. 

Rahul Banerji 

  

Damage limitation was the watchword on Moving Day at the $2.25 million 58th Hero Indian Open and overnight joint leader Eugenio Chacarra came through with the fewest dents on a brutal Saturday at the DLF Golf and Country Club in Gurgaon. 

The Spaniard added a 2 over par 73 to edge into a one-shot lead on 3 under 213 with defending champion Keita Nakajima of Japan and South Africa’s Brandon Stone sharing second place on 2 under 214. Ajeetesh Sandhu was best placed among the home challengers at tied 15th on 4 over 220 while 2024 joint runner-up Veer Ahlawat shared 18th place on 221. 

Chacarra (70-70-73) swapped two front nine bogeys for a lone birdie while Nakajima, who had started alongside him at 4 under overnight stumbled late with two dropped shots on the back nine to fall behind. The swing came on the Par-5 15th hole where Chacarra picked up a shot and the Japanese star saw his par putt slip away. 

Ahead of the two, who were in the day’s final flight, Stone carded the day’s joint best score of 1 under 71 – an indication of just how hard it was coming to terms with the course – along with former PGA Tour player Troy Merrit and fellow South African Casey Jarvis. No one else broke par and with the final 18 holes to go, just five in the surviving field of 68 are still aggregating sub-par scores. 

Such was the attrition up and down the field that Sandhu (69-77-74) improved on his overnight 25th place by 10 spots to a share of 15th despite returning a 2 over 74 on Saturday. For his part, Ahlawat too was 2 over on the day to go with earlier cards of 70 and 77, almost mirroring Sandhu’s scores. 

Chacarra fell back even before he and Nakajima had reached the turn with dropped shots on the very first hole and then the seventh, both Par-4s. For his part, the 2024 winner held steady for 14 holes before bogeying 15 and 17, the first of which also conceded the lead for the first time where his Spanish playing partner made his lone gain for the day. 

Stone closed out his day with his fourth birdie against three dropped shots to sit alongside Nakajima in shared second place. 

"It was windy. It was probably the most windy day we had out there so I knew I needed to have a lot of patience today,” Chacarra said, adding "I think I played great. My ball-striking was incredible like it's been all week, so that was nice. I'm very pleased with this score, I think it was playing tough. This course, we know what it is, one bad swing and you can get a big number. So I'm pleased with it but it's time to reset, talk to my team and see what we can do better for tomorrow." 

“I made it a no-stress day. I made 16 pars and that's good for this golf course. My caddy told me to be patient before every shot. That was great. This is the toughest golf course I’ve played this year. So my thinking was to be stress-free, just hold the line,” added Nakajima. 

For Stone, bringing in a sub-par card was special given the price others around him were paying. “It was unbelievable golf if I'm honest. It sounds greedy, but I felt like I played somewhat better than that. I felt like I left a few birdie putts out there, but it's something else out there. It's brutal, the wind's everywhere and it's gusting up quite a bit and there is no room for an errant shot, not one. It just feels like you're constantly on high alert because you'll have a four or five-foot putt and you're so busy thinking about the next one, you're just lagging them down there. But to shoot one under today is something I'm very proud of.”