Golfing greats descend on ‘tricky’ DGC ahead of DP World India Championships

With the star-studded DP World India Championships making its debut later this week, Tuesday saw some of the biggest names in men’s golf, including Rory McIlroy and recently crowned Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald, getting a first feel of the Delhi Golf Club even as the Indian pros welcomed a return to familiar surroundings on home soil.

Donald, who arrived only on Tuesday morning, admitted it was tough to switch from team mode to individual play but was happy to get back to what he said was his ‘day job’.

“It’s a different feel. The last few years have been a lot of Ryder Cup, and especially the last few weeks. You don’t think about course management too much these days, you’re just trying to hit the ball as far as you can… whereas this course, the penalty for missing the fairways, I’ve been told, is quite severe. I think it creates a little bit more thought process,” Donald said during a media interaction here.

Anirban Lahiri, one of the six Indians to have wins on the DP World Tour, was excited to return to the DGC after 10 years since winning the Indian Open.

“I’m very excited to be back. A lot of things have changed since I last played the course. It’s undergone a beautiful renovation. It’s still got a familiar feel. I’ve had my struggles here (but) the last few times, it’s become more of a friend, and I hope to have that relationship continue.

Compatriot Shubhankar Sharma, who considers the DGC as his home course, was equally looking forward to the challenge. “Really excited. I’ve been looking forward to this event since January. I kind of already knew it was coming, inside information. The course is in amazing condition.

“The last time I was here was in 2020, and that was just one exhibition round to raise some funds. But when I teed off on that first hole, it felt like I never left. I spent so many evenings here as a kid practising, just having putting competitions,” he reminisced.

And while most of them insisted that there would be little home advantage, Shubhankar believed otherwise.

“At the end of the day, the fairway size is actually the same; it’s the bushes that make it look smaller. Where the home advantage comes in is that these players have grown up playing here. Obviously there’s the intimidation factor of the bushes being there. It works for Indian players because we’ve seen this course before.”