Niklas Nørgaard Leads After Storm Delays in New Delhi

• Niklas Nørgaard shot a 6-under 66 to lead after the DP World India Championship.
• Eugenio Chacarra, Thomas Detry and Tom McKibbin share second place.
• Storms in the area cost just under five hours of play, and 12 players were unable to tee off in round one.

Niklas Nørgaard birdied his last two holes to take a one-shot lead after a weather-hit opening day of the DP World India Championship in New Delhi.

Storms in the area halted play at Delhi Golf Club for just under five hours. The Dane carded a 66 to reach 6-under, one clear of Spain’s Eugenio Chacarra, Belgium’s Thomas Detry and Northern Ireland’s Tom McKibbin.

Rory McIlroy opened with a 70. Rankings leader Patrick Reed and fellow contender Casey Jarvis had not completed their rounds, and 12 players did not get to tee off at all. Chacarra, who sits second in the Race to Dubai, is one of four players who could go to the top of the rankings this week.

A big hitter on a short course

Nørgaard was close to losing his card in late August. Since then he has finished second at the Husqvarna British Masters, hosted by Sir Nick Faldo at The Belfry, and runner-up again at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. Those two results have him on course for the DP World Tour Play-Offs, where the top 70 players start at the Abu Dhabi Championship.

Delhi Golf Club is short and narrow, and many players leave the driver in the bag. Nørgaard, one of the longest hitters on tour, said he had not expected to score well there.

“I’m very, very happy,” he said. “Bit surprised as well. This should not suit me at all. It pretty much just neutralises my best weapon, which is my driver. But I just managed to make no big mistakes, put the irons in play, and putt pretty well.

“Had a tough year until [August] and it’s just I think what happened at Belfry made me regain my confidence. I didn’t think that I’d been playing that bad but I just needed something to spark it and that’s what the Belfry did.

“I’ve been playing good since.”

His round contained an eagle, six birdies and two bogeys. Starting on the 10th, he birdied the par-5 14th and hit his approach to six feet on the 15th for another, then dropped a shot straight away. A birdie at the par-5 18th was followed by an eagle at the 1st, where he hit his second shot to five feet.

A good approach set up a birdie on the 6th, but he three-putted the 7th. A birdie at the par-5 8th took him to 5-under for the day, and he holed from 35 feet on the 9th to finish.

Chacarra back on familiar greens

Chacarra has a win and a runner-up finish in the Hero Indian Open. The second came in March, when he started the final round four shots clear and lost out to Alex Fitzpatrick. He finished second in Madrid only last week.

He also started on the 10th and birdied four of his first six holes: the 10th, 11th, 14th and 15th. He bogeyed the 16th and birdied the 17th. Birdies at the 2nd and 8th followed before a dropped shot at the 9th, his final hole.

“Need to play here more often I guess,” said the Spaniard. “I just love the greens. I can see the breaks better than in other places. I know the lie and what it is. I’ve been having good greens, like reading and good putts made when I play here, and today was kind of the same.

“I’m feeling good, mentally fresh and excited for what’s ahead.”

The chasing pack

McKibbin went off the 10th, made four birdies in a row from the 12th and dropped only one shot. Detry made eight birdies, which covered a double bogey on the 15th and a bogey on the sixth.

Three Scots, Ewen Ferguson, Scott Jamieson and Robert MacIntyre, are on 4-under. Alongside them are India’s Om Prakash Chouhan and England’s Marcus Armitage. Poland’s Adrian Meronk is also 4-under but had played only five holes.

England’s Brandon Robinson Thompson and Sweden’s Hugo Townsend completed their rounds and are one further back on 3-under.

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