Press Trust of India
New Delhi, March 16: Defending champion Anirban Lahiri’s bid to regain the Hero Indian Open crown will face stiff resistance from a bevy of star golfers, including three-time Major champion Padraig Harrington, at the tricky Delhi Golf Course here. The tournament begins Thursday.
With four title wins under his belt at the DGC, Lahiri will look to execute his winning formula once again when he leads the home challenge in one of the strongest-ever fields, comprising big names from both Europe and Asia, during the 52nd edition of the event.
“This is an event which you want to keep defending all your life. I played so much at this course and also successfully defended the SAIL-SBI Open. It can be done. The whole exercise is to put yourself in the position again come Sunday,” Lahiri told reporters here Wednesday.
“Over the years if you have a strategy at Delhi Golf Club, you don’t mess with it. It is hard enough playing here so you stick with your plans. I just need to execute it better and more efficiently,” said the World No. 50.
The event will see in action Asian Tour Order of Merit leader Marcus Fraser, in-form Scott Hend of Australia, who won in Thailand last week, and Peter Uihlein and Paul Dunne, who had stellar amateur careers before turning to paid ranks.
The USD 1.66 million event will also see in action all top Indian golfers, including Jeev Milkha Singh, Arjun Atwal, SSP Chawrasia, Shiv Kapur, Gaganjeet Bhullar, Rashid Khan, Rahil Gangjee, Himmat Rai and Chiragh Kumar, among others.
The roster of former champions includes Siddikur Rahman (Bangladesh), Thaworn Wiratchant (Thailand), Mardan Mamat (Singapore) and C Muniyappa.
Chawrasia, four-time runner-up at this iconic event, will also look to go one better at the course. “I have very good memories of this course. Now I need to last the full distance and not finish second best,” he informed.