Gurugram, Mar 21 (PTI) Five players from the world’s top-100 and several World Tour champions will line up at the Hero Indian Open, making the 2026 edition one of the strongest fields at the DLF Golf and Country Club from March 26-29.
The world class field will be starred by Akshay Bhatia, currently ranked 22 in the world and a recent winner on the PGA Tour, and Italy’s Francesco Molinari, the 2018 Open champion and a three-time Ryder Cup winner.
Besides Bhatia, the other players in the top-100 include Casey Jarvis (69), Elvis Smylie (74), David Puig (85) and Thriston Lawrence (89).
Jarvis has been in red-hot form, clinching back-to-back titles earlier this season — the Investec South African Open and the Magical Kenya Open in successive weeks.
Defending champion Eugenio Chacarra, currently ranked 143, leads a group of eight players placed between 101 and 150.
The others are Angel Ayora, Andy Sullivan, Nacho Elvira, Dan Bradbury, Calum Hill, Martin Couvra and Julien Guerrier.
The home challenge will be spearheaded by Shubhankar Sharma, a two-time DP World Tour winner, along with Yuvraj Sandhu, winner of the 2025 PGTI Order of Merit, previous PGTI OOM winners, Manu Gandas, Om Prakash Chouhan and Veer Ahlawat, who in 2024 finished runner-up at the Hero Indian Open and Rayhan Thomas.
The local contingent will also include multiple winners on the PGTI like Shaurya Bhattacharya, Sri Lankan N Thangaraja, Honey Baisoya, Khalin Joshi and Saptak Talwar, among others.
The field will also see two rising stars of Indian golf — 16-year old Kartik Singh and 21-year old Shubham Jaglan, who have been given sponsor invitations for the tournament.
Several other players arrive in strong form. Apart from Jarvis, Bradbury, Freddy Schott, Elvira and Puig, who have won in the current 2026 season.
Another seven players won in 2025 and as many as a dozen players were successful in 2024, making the current gathering as one of the most decorated fields.
Additionally, there are numerous experienced DPWT winners like Rafa Cabrera Bello, Matteo Manassero, Joost Luiten, Jorge Campillo, Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Ross Fisher, Bernd Wiesberger, and others.
With the cut-off to retain a full card through the Race to Dubai rankings reduced from the Top 110 to Top 100, the fight for points and the Tour cards has become close.
Hence, the tournament will see intense competition as the players battle it out for money and points.
Co-sanctioned by the Indian Golf Union and part of the DP World Tour, the tournament will offer a record prize purse of USD 2.55 million.
Began in 1964, the Hero Indian Open is the country’s oldest international professional golf event and has been co-sanctioned by the DP World Tour since 2015. Entry for spectators will be free across all four days. PTI TAP ATK
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