EUGENIO CHACARRA BECOMES FIRST SPANISH WINNER OF HERO INDIAN OPEN

LAST YEAR’S CHAMPION NAKAJIMA FINISHES 2ND; AHLAWAT, BHULLAR, CHOUHAN BEST INDIANS T-17

Hero Indian Open 2025 Champion, Eugenio Chacarra of Spain.

Khel Today Bureau

Gurugram: Overnight leader Eugenio Chacarra of Spain, opened the final day with a double bogey and closed with a bogey-par to emerge as the 2025 Hero Indian Open on the DP World Tour. The 25-year-old, who came into the tournament on a special invite from Hero MotoCorp, became the first Spanish champion of the event, producing three under par rounds over four days.

Chacarra, who registered his first win on the DP World Tour, started the week with a win in the Hero Pro-Am, and went on to shoot 70-70-73-71 for a total 4-under 284 at the DLF Golf and Country Club. He won by two shots over the defending champion, Japan’s Keita Nakajima (72).

The winner, Chacarra, who received the glittering and iconic Hero Indian Open trophy from Dr Pawan Munjal, Executive Chairman, Hero MotoCorp, also received a winner’s cheque of US $ 382,500 while Nakajima received US$ 247,500.

The top Indian was once again Veer Ahlawat (75) alongside Om Prakash Chouhan (71) and Gaganjeet Bhullar (73), who finished with a bogey and a double bogey in the last three holes to drop from T-10 to T-17.

Hero Indian Open 2025 Champion, Eugenio Chacarra of Spain, with Dr Pawan Munjal, Executive Chairman, Hero MotoCorp.

An emotional Chacarra, when asked about his feelings, said, “Obviously, you need to start by thanking Hero MotoCorp and Dr Pawan Munjal for giving me a chance to compete (he got a sponsor’s invitation to the tournament). Very grateful for that opportunity. Without them, it’s probably I am not on this spot right now. So, first of all, thanks Hero, and everyone involved with Hero. I appreciate it, and you guys probably changed my life today. So thanks for that.”

He added, “It was a tough day. We knew it was going to be a long day, going be a lot of pressure and I didn’t have the start that I really wanted to without missing shots. But we know how this course is. The wind changes for one second and then you’re like 20 yards short. So, but I think I did a great job all week staying patient. I think, don’t know, God was helping me today. I got a couple of good bounces. That’s chip on 14 and that ball on 17, they were good shots and then they ended up in the bad spots. I think I got some good bounces and you need some like that to win. But very proud, I don’t have words right now.”

On what the win meant to him, Chacarra, added, “It means everything. I stayed patient. I know when I play my best, I’m one of the best players in the world. I already proved that a million times.

Just hard work. I surround myself with good guys, have a good team. They trust me. My family probably didn’t sleep tonight. It’s just awesome. It is going to need to sink in, but really proud and I’m just, just happy.”

Nakajima, looking for a back-to-back win at the Hero Indian Open, opened with two bogeys in the first three holes and then went through 11 pars before finishing birdies on the 15th and 18th for a round of even par 72 to finish runner-up for the second time in as many weeks. He was also the runner-up at the Singapore Classic last week on the DP World Tour.

Joost Luiten (71) was sole third at 1-under for the week, as only three players finished in red numbers on a course that proved to be challenging the whole week. Luiten carded 69-73-74-71 for a total of 1-under 287.

Other Indian finishers were Ajeetesh Sandhu (78) at T-31, Shubhankar Sharma (75) at T-43rd, Shaurya Bhattacharya (79) at T-54 and Shiv Kapur (83) at T-60 alongside Kshitij Naveed Kaul (75).

Sachin Baisoya (82) was 64th, Jairaj Singh Sandhu (81) was 65th, Saptak Talwar (88) was 66th and Aman Raj (85) was 67th.

Chacarra’s maiden DP World Tour win came on just his ninth appearance as he bounced back from a disastrous start in the final round as he went 3-over after three holes and lost his overnight lead.

He played great golf with a birdie barrage that saw five birdies between the 6th and the 14th holes. Leading by four shots with two holes to go, Chacarra could afford the luxury of a bogey-par finish even as Nakajima finished par-birdie to narrow the gap to two and rise to sole second.

He survived a late scare on the 17th after finding himself near the long grass following his second shot, escaping with a bogey, before closing his round with a par to stroll to victory at the difficult DLF Golf and Country Club.

The highlight of Chacarra’s round came at the 14th, where his chip, travelling at great speed from a tricky spot in the rough ran straight into the hole for a bonus birdie instead of racing well past.

Chacarra also made a number of crucial par saves to maintain the distance between him and the chasing pack.

Amidst all the drama at the top, Italy’s Andrea Pavan made a hole-in-one at the par-three 12th from 189 yards using a nine iron. It was the third ace of the week.