The 2019 Race to Dubai travels to New Delhi for the historic Hero Indian Open. Here are five things to know ahead of the action this week.
Where Wallace’s memorable 2018 began
Matt Wallace became the first Englishman to triumph at the co-sanctioned event on Indian soil, when he beat Andrew ‘Beef’ Johnston in a play-off last year. It was Wallace’s first of three victories in a breakthrough season in which he was the only European Tour player to feature in two play-offs, winning both.
The then 27-year-old birdied the first play-off hole to clinch the title as Johnston could only make par. Then six months later, and after his win at the BMW International Open, he secured victory via a play-off at Made in Denmark.
Part of a four-man play-off with Steven Brown, Jonathan Thomson and Lee Westwood, Wallace birdied the first hole to progress with Brown, as Thomson and Westwood made pars. Wallace then maintained his momentum with another birdie to Brown’s par to claim the Danish title.
Indian dominance
Since the event became part of the European Tour International Schedule, it has been dominated by Indian stars. Anirban Lahiri beat SSP Chawrasia in a play-off to clinch the 2015 title, before Chawrasia won back-to-back editions in 2016 and 2017 to take his European Tour victory tally to four – all four triumphs have come on Indian soil.
The duo also created history with their play-off in 2015, as it was the first all-Indian European Tour play-off as well as the first Indian one-two in European Tour history.
The popular event has been won 13 times by homegrown players, including PG Sethi, who remains the only amateur to win the event when he was crowned the champion in 1965.
Historic Indian Open
The Hero Indian Open is the longest-running international sporting event in India and will be played for the fifth time on the 2019 Race to Dubai.
It joined the European Tour in 2015 when it became co-sanctioned with the Asian Tour, however, the event was first played in 1964 and won by the late Peter Thomson – his first of three Indian Open victories.
A tough test
The Gary Player Course at DLF Golf and Country Club will host the Hero Indian Open for the third consecutive year and competitors will need patience and accuracy if they are to succeed this week.
In last year’s event only 15 players finished under par and the par four 14th hole showed its teeth as the hardest hole during the week with a stroke average of 4.44, claiming 128 bogeys and 37 double bogeys or worse.
Ryder Cup represented
At the 2018 Hero Indian Open, Thomas Bjørn became the first current Ryder Cup Captain to play the event. This year will see one of Bjørn’s 2018 Ryder Cup vice-captains Robert Karlsson joined in the field by five players of the biennial contest, including Victor Dubuisson, Stephen Gallacher, David Howell, Edoardo Molinari and Chris Wood.
