Eugenio Chacarra Hits the Front in Delhi

• Eugenio Chacarra leads the DP World India Championship by two shots on 14-under par.
• Ángel Hidalgo and Joost Luiten share second place at Delhi Golf Club.
• Race to Dubai leader Patrick Reed made the cut on the line at level par.

Eugenio Chacarra will take a two-shot lead into an extended final day of the DP World India Championship after nine birdies on Saturday carried him to 14-under par at Delhi Golf Club.

The Spaniard still has seven holes of his third round to complete when play resumes on Sunday. Storms cost almost five hours on the opening day, and the tournament has been playing catch-up ever since. His compatriot and playing partner Ángel Hidalgo and Dutchman Joost Luiten are his nearest pursuers on 12-under.

Chacarra arrived in Delhi second in the Race to Dubai Rankings after finishing T2 at the Open de España, and he made good progress in his bid to overtake Patrick Reed, who has led the standings since February. Reed made the cut on the number at level par before a superb third round lifted him to 6-under. Rory McIlroy, chasing a record-equalling eighth Harry Vardon Trophy, was 2-over for his third round and 4-under for the tournament.

How did Chacarra get there?

Chacarra was five holes into his second round when darkness halted play on Friday, and he picked up five birdies over the final 13 holes on Saturday morning, offset by dropped shots at the 9th and 16th. A second successive 67 left him 10-under and one clear of Scott Jamieson at the halfway stage.

Jamieson birdied the 1st to open the third round and draw level. That lasted only until Chacarra, his playing partner, followed him in from five feet.

A birdie at the 4th moved Chacarra two clear, but the chasing pack bunched up behind him. At one point Luiten, Hidalgo, Adrian Meronk, Jamieson, Joel Girrbach, Daniel Hillier and England’s Dan Bradbury were all on 10-under. Meronk broke out of the logjam with a birdie at the 6th, and Chacarra matched him there.

Then came the putt of his day, a 41-footer for birdie at the 7th to go three clear. He turned in a bogey-free 32.

Hidalgo, who finished second at the FedEx Open de France last month, holed from 20 feet at the 10th to move into second. Luiten, who had birdied the par-5 1st and left his eagle putt there just short, birdied the 12th as the hooter sounded to join him overnight.

India holds mixed memories for Chacarra. He won his maiden DP World Tour title at the Hero Indian Open in 2025, playing on an invitation in only his ninth start. He returned in March as defending champion, took a four-shot lead into the final round and closed with a 75 to finish second behind Alex Fitzpatrick. 

“Need to play here more often I guess,” he said. “I just love the greens. I can see the breaks better than in other places.”

Reed charges, McIlroy fluctuates

Reed started from the 10th and bogeyed his opening hole. He responded with three straight birdies, added two more at the 18th and 1st, then holed out for an eagle from just off the 4th fairway.

McIlroy birdied the 1st, just as Tommy Fleetwood had in the group ahead. He then found a thick patch of rough off the tee at the 3rd and a greenside bunker at the 4th, bogeying both. A double bogey at the 6th followed before he hit back with a birdie at the 7th, and a favourable bounce off a tree with his approach to the 8th helped him save par. His day ended on a high when he holed from a bunker to eagle the 14th.

RORY MCILROY HOLES OUT FOR EAGLE FROM THE BUNKER 🤩 #DPWIC https://t.co/41LxOCzKe3

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Fleetwood and De Leo set the clubhouse mark

Defending champion Fleetwood shot a bogey-free 68 to reach 9-under, the best score among those who completed their rounds. Italy’s Gregorio De Leo joined him there with a 66, crowned by an eagle at the par-5 8th, his penultimate hole.

“I was very happy with it,” said De Leo. “Played pretty nicely. Didn’t miss much off the tee. It was really nice, the eagle on the 8th. Hit a good two iron off the tee, I tried to hook a four iron just short of left of the green and chip it in. It was nice, yeah.”

Shane Lowry birdied four of his first six holes, including a 34-foot putt at the 4th and a stunning approach to the 6th. One dropped shot at the 5th left him 7-under at that stage, and 11-under for his previous 19 holes.

Meronk, a fortnight removed from victory at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, opened birdie-birdie and then saved par at the 3rd by almost holing a short-sided chip from a hollow left of the green. Jamieson escaped with a bogey after a wild chip at the 5th, then hit the hole with his tee shot at the 7th and rolled in the birdie putt.

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