Hero Indian Open Tips 2023

The top of the market is dominated by last week’s winner Thorbjorn Olesen, Nicolai Hojgaard and Robert MacIntyre all around the 10/1 to 12/1 mark or thereabouts, with the latter being given the benefit of the doubt by the bookies after some indifferent form of late.

Olesen would have been an interesting runner in this had he not won last week, given that his record post-victory in the past decade on the DP World Tour is less than inspiring at 52/28/MC/63/MC/MC. In terms of Hojgaard, this doesn’t appear to be a course you can simply overpower, with SSP Chawrasia’s win here underlining that assertion as one of the shortest hitters on Tour. Finally, Bob is simply not playing well enough in my view for me to consider him this week at the price on offer.

One player who is playing good enough golf to consider though is Jeunghun Wang, who arrives here off the back of an impressive 3^rd place finish in Singapore and 8^th last week in Thailand.

Caddy-captured Strokes Gained stats need a little due care and attention applied to their interpretation, however raw statistics of 7^th for Driving Accuracy and 7^th for Scrambling in the first of those two events, and 1^st for Putting Average in the second, suggests that his all-round game is in the right kind of space for a challenging week like this.

Although ‘The Beast’ at Laguna National didn’t quite live up to its name, I’d have still preferred him on that layout to last week’s birdie-fest, so the very fact that he was in the mix last week is a disproportionate positive, even if he couldn’t keep up with the pace on Sunday, closing with a round of 70.

Two of the South Korean’s three wins at DP World Tour level have come at what I’d class as tougher tests, with his breakthrough victory in the 2016 Trophee Hassan II coming at 5-under par being followed up the following week in Mauritius at 6-under. His third and so far final win to date also holds some relevance, with it coming on the Bermudagrass greens of Doha on a similar length par 72.

With a little over 6 years having now elapsed since that success and some contention rust having been shaken off in recent times, I can see the talented 27 year-old getting back to winning ways here this week. RESULT: T32

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The only other player to interest me before we get into some much deeper prices is Yannik Paul.

I recall dismissing the German on the basis of his short price when he secured his breakthrough DP World Tour victory at the Mallorca Golf Open in October, holding off Nicolai von Dellingshausen and Paul Waring by a stroke, and in terms of quality this week’s task doesn’t feel a whole lot different.

After a slow start to 2023, 34^th in Singapore improved to a runner-up finish to Thorbjorn Olesen last week in Thailand in an event where rounds of 65/69/66/68 saw him in contention throughout, without quite being able to keep up with the scoring prowess of the eventual winner.

A more stringent test like the one presented by DLF G&CC should suit though as he takes his first look at this Gary Player beauty. 9^th for Driving Distance, 17^th for Driving Accuracy, 5^th for GIR, 14^th for Scrambling and 12^th for putting last week at Amata Spring is the kind of all-round game that may well prove to be the key to unlocking this course, with his quality iron-play in particular a key asset.

There’s plenty of evidence to suggest that tougher tests suit the 28 year-old. 2^nd at the 2021 Challenge Tour Grand Final came with a 7-under total, and he came close to breaking his DP World Tour maiden last May when finishing runner-up to Sam Horsfield at the Soudal Open with an 11-under total. 8^th at Le Golf National is further evidence that he can grind when needs be, so I’m happy to get Paul onside for this week. RESULT: 2nd

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Picking through the local players with the greatest potential this week, Manu Gandas sticks out like a sore thumb.

The PGTI Order of Merit winner from last year, Gandas won 6 tournaments on his home Tour in the 2022 calendar year and earned himself a stab at the DP World Tour this year for his efforts. Added to his maiden victory in 2021, that makes it a total of 7 wins in his last 33 starts which undoubtedly grabs a level of attention.

There could have been a seventh success last year on this week’s venue too, where he eventually finished runner-up to Varun Parikh, carding a 6-under total on this beast of a course.

To top it all, Gandas is attached to the DLF G&CC here in India, giving him plenty of chance to play the Gary Player course and understand its many nuances better than most.

Life on the DP World Tour hasn’t been plain sailing so far, which is reflected in his price this week. Missed cuts at the Ras al Khaimah Championship and Singapore Classic to start his campaign offered little in the way of encouragement, however 28^th last week in Thailand was much better and the 26 year-old closed with a 68 – his best round of the week – and putted nicely throughout. Home comforts this week may well bring out further improvements at a tasty price. RESULT: T32

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Of the various ways a player might attempt to navigate around this Gary Player brute, hitting as many fairways and greens as possible is one viable option, and to that end Gaganjeet Bhullar fits the bill.

One of the more recognisable names from the home contingent, Bhullar has spent significant time on the European/DP World Tour over the years, recording top-10 finishes at the 2011 Czech Open, 2014 Abu Dhabi Championship, 2017 Czech Masters, 2019 Kenya Open and most recently he finished 2^nd at the 2021 Qatar Masters. Add to that, he won the co-sanctioned Asian Tour/European Tour Fiji International in 2018 to prove that he can win at this level.

That success in Fiji rates as one of his ten Asian Tour titles, added to which he’s also amassed 12 PGTI wins over the years to suggest he’s a cut above the vast majority of his countrymen when it comes to actually winning events.

The Indonesian Open last August was the 34 year-old’s most recent Asian Tour success; the Jeev Milkha Singh Invitational 2 months later was his last win on the PGTI – he’s clearly been in top form in the not so recent past, plus he’s recorded a pair of top-5 finishes as recently as December to add further encouragement.

52^nd in Oman and 22^nd last week in Qatar on two tough tests on the Asian Tour should have him fully attuned to the task at hand this week, and he led Driving Accuracy and was 2^nd for GIR on that most recent effort in Doha.

3 cuts made from 4 attempts here at the DLF G&CC have reaped nothing better than 24^th place, however he’s clearly striking the ball well enough at present to improve on that considerably. RESULT: T44

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Om Prakash Chouhan is described on his rather outdated PGTI profile as ‘the second most successful golfer to emerge from the state of Madhya Pradesh after the legendary Mukesh Kumar.’ High praise indeed.

Certainly Chouhan has a long way to go if he’s going to emulate his compatriot who amassed 21 PGTI wins over the course of his career, including the co-sanctioned Panasonic Open which rated as his first Asian Tour success at the age of 51, and he still plays today 6 years later.

Chouhan though does have 2 successes on the PGTI now, both of which have come in the past 2 years, and at the age of 36 the Indian would appear to be playing the best golf of his career, which does make him an interesting proposition this week on home soil.

Since the second of those successes at the Jaipur Open in September, Om has recorded 6 top-10 finishes from his next 9 starts and was in the mix on his 2023 reappearance the week before last at the PGTI Players Championship at Tollygunge, eventually finishing 7^th.

One of those top-10s came here on the Player course at DLF G&CC, eventually finishing 4^th to Varun Parikh with a 1-under total, suggesting that he’s got his head around the tough scoring conditions after a few false starts when he’s played this previously at this level. The competition here this week is undoubtedly tougher, however that experience may just help him sneak into the each-way places or better. RESULT: MC

Finally, few players can truly say that they’ve mastered this Gary Player creation and it seemed unlikely that Varun Parikh would add himself to that very short list after a quadruple bogey 8 on the 10^th hole at the Kapil Dev Grant Thornton Invitational held here in September left him battling to even make the weekend.

Following a bogey on the 12^th, the 24 year-old played the remaining 60 holes in 15-under par to secure a 6-shot victory and his maiden professional title into the bargain, closing with a pair of 67s as most other players struggled to break par. Given I’ve backed some of his nearest challengers that week at shorter prices, it seems remiss of me to not support him here at small stakes.

Of course, one swallow does not a summer make, and one standout result doesn’t imply future success of any description, however given that we only have SSP Chawrasia, Stephen Gallacher and Parikh himself as course winners in this week’s field, that effort only a few months ago has to be noted.

A rather average looking set of results from his 7 starts since that win goes a small way to explaining his price this week, however scratch just below the surface and there may just be some good underlying form as he heads into this week’s task.

16^th at the Vooty Masters in late November saw Varun open up with a round of 66 to sit in 4^th place after day 1, and he was in the mix again at the PGTI Tour Championship which finished on Christmas Day, sitting in 8^th spot after 54 holes before a closing round of 73 meant he finished 19^th.

38^th on his first start of 2023 a week or so ago could have been much better if it weren’t for another closing round of 73, and with the rust shaken off perhaps he’ll push on again this week at the scene of his biggest career effort thus far. RESULT: MC

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