Akshay Bhatia quickly understood how brutal is DLF Country Club of this week Hero Indian Open.
of Winner of the Arnold Palmer Invitational arrived in Delhi as the betting favourite, but his stay was short-lived. Truth be told, it was a nightmare for Bhatia right from the opening pace.
Starting at the par-4 10th hole, Bhatia chipped his drive left and out of bounds, leading to a double six. He bogeyed 11 but then bogeyed 13 and 14 before his DLF horror show reached its peak at the par-5 15th hole.
After playing his second shot on par 5, Bhatia realized he had just hit the wrong ball. After making the swing, Bhatia found his true ball nearby, notified a rules official and proceeded to play the hole with the correct ball. That meant a two-stroke penalty on the hole, and Bhatia eventually walked away with a triple 8. While that violation of Rule 6.3c was costly, it could have sent Bhatia home after just a few holes. Under the rule, if the player playing the wrong ball does not correct the error by continuing to play the hole with the correct ball before making a stroke to start another hole, then they are disqualified.
You can see the rule here.
Bhatia completed his front (back) nine by shooting doubles at no. 18 to shoot 44. He made three birdies to come home to shoot a 5-over 77, but he knew it could have been worse.
“Good thing I didn’t shoot 80!” Bhatia told DP World Tour after his first round. “Yeah, tough day – hit the wrong ball, which was unfortunate, and just didn’t play well on the front nine.
“The back three was great and look, this golf course is tough, so if I can try to get it back to par, I think it’ll be a nice comeback for me. I’m never going to give up and that’s kind of the goal.”
In his first round at DLF, Bhatia found what many on the European circuit have long known: it’s a golf course that can hit you if you’re even a hair’s breadth away.
“It’s a tough golf course,” Bhatia said. “I mean, I hit OB on the first hole, so you can hit shots that are five, 10 feet off your fairway and just be in a tough spot.”
First-round leader Freddy Schott, who opened with a 6-under 66, said it best.
“I think it might be the hardest course this year. Your game has to be so good overall, there’s nothing that can flow,” Schott said.
Schott played the next two rounds at 1 over and trail defending champion Eugenio Charcarra of the five going into the final round.
