Hero Indian Open: Ajeetesh one shot off three-way Round 1 lead
Belgium’s Colsaerts and Sweden’s Kinhult took the lead with 4-under 68 rounds before being joined for a three-way tie at the top by England’s Armitage
Gurugram: Ajeetesh Sandhu produced a fine early run in the opening round of the $2.25 million Hero Indian Open on Thursday, even briefly enjoying the lead before the unforgiving DLF Golf and Country Club course took one shot back on the toughest hole, the 17th.
Belgium’s 42-year-old Nicolas Colsaerts and Sweden’s Marcus Kinhult took the lead with 4-under 68 rounds before being joined for a three-way tie at the top by England’s in-form Marcus Armitage, who went 5-under after the 17th only to find the penalty area from the 18th tee to finish with a bogey on the final hole.
Sandhu’s effort was heartening. The 36-year-old’s golf has been up and down in the last two years, after a 2023 season blighted by a hip issue. His excellent 3-under par 69 in more benign morning conditions left him in a six-way tie for fourth in this DP World Tour event.
“Any time you break 70 on this course makes one a happy man,” Sandhu beamed. “I wouldn’t say anything was great today but everything was above average… Just kept my head on my shoulders through the day and kept plugging away,” he said.
He won the PGTI’s Vishwa Samudra Open Presented by Kapil Dev last year on the domestic tour, but middling performances on the Asia Tour meant he only has a limited status on that tour. Veer Ahlawat, who finished tied second in the 2024 Hero Indian Open, was T10 after he shot a 70. Three birdies in a row took him to 3-under before a bogey on the 17th.
The two made up somewhat for an otherwise poor showing by Indian golfers in the national open championship. Shubhankar Sharma, India’s best bet, struggled to 3-over 75 after a double bogey in his final hole, the par-4 ninth, having started from the 10th tee. The 28-year-old’s wait for a first win since 2018 may continue going by his early struggles.
Only seven of the 30 Indians returned a par or better score with two home players also returning the worst scores. The mitigating factor was two old stalwarts and winners on the European circuit, Shiv Kapur and SSP Chawrasia, shooting even par rounds. Chawrasia, the last Indian to win the Indian Open with back-to-back success in the 2016 and 2017 cashed in on his familiarity with the course, recovering after being 3-over after 10 holes and producing a birdie, birdie finish.
Armitage, 37, is having an excellent 2025 season on the DP World Tour. A winner on the tour in 2021, he is 16th on the Race to Dubai rankings. He finished fifth in the Singapore Classic, the first of DP World Tour’s Asia Swing event, after he was second in the Ras Al Khaimal Championship in January.
His putting was brilliant – all seven birdies came on par-4 holes – with a 20-footer on the 10th and a 12-footer on the 17th briefly giving him the lead on 5-under. Despite the wayward tee shot that led to bogey on the par-5 18th hole, Armitage was pleased. “This is not a course where you aim for the pin, you aim at certain spots. I hit good areas, played good golf shots,” he said after his round.
Armitage was an exception in the field to actually enjoy the hard greens. “It is good to see some firm greens,” he said. “I would like to get my teeth into the course tomorrow.”
Japan’s defending champion Keita Nakajima shot a 2-over 74 after bogeying four of his first 10 holes, to be tied 67 while Germany’s Marcel Siem, the 2023 winner, shot a 76, after four bogeys and a double bogey on the 17th. England’s John Parry, the highest ranked player in the field (world No.95) shot a one-under 71 playing in Shubhankar’s group.
