Eugenio Chacarra takes DP World India Championship crown in safe zone

New Delhi: Eugenio Chacarra pumped his fists after draining a rather easy and short putt on the seventh hole. It was just five feet and the celebration looked over the top. Chacarra was 19-under then and had a four shot lead over his nearest contenders, one of which was compatriot Angel Hidalgo playing alongside him.

That was the phase where Chacarra had begun to play safe. He finished the third round on Sunday morning with nine-under, scoring three birdies and an eagle in the remaining seven holes to move to 19-under for three rounds, well clear of the rest of the pack.

Early in the fourth round, he stretched the lead further making birdies on the first and the third before entering the safe zone. He had opened up a lead and instead of attacking the green he was quite happy meandering to the greens.

It may have been due to tiredness setting in or maybe he began to think of conserving himself for a later stage on a day when he was supposed to play 25 holes.

But then the narrow fairways of the Delhi Golf Club can be punishing. Chacarra found that out on the sixth hole when he copped a bogey. The second shot was off the mark - he hit into the semi rough to the right of the green and from there it took him three further shots to the hole.

The approach to the seventh too was way from perfect. He had to drain a 30-footer to get a birdie but fell short by just under five feet. His competitor Hidalgo was closer to pin although into the rough. He parred and so did Chacarra. Chacarra celebrated it with a pumped fist.

"It was difficult because I came from making a bogey on the 6th with a big lip-out like you guys probably saw. It was a hole that I hit the green and the other two guys were close. Danny Hillier (playing in another group and breathing down his neck just two shots behind) made a birdie on the eighth and he was almost like four back, and I had a three-footer downhill right-to-left that I didn't know was going to break or not," explained the Spanish player who won the Indian Open in 2025.

"So it's just a putt that I made that I normally struggle with in the past, and it just give me some motivation to keep pushing and keep going."

Chacarra managed to par before turning in a birdie on the 11th hole and return to 21-under. From thereon it was safe and by the time Hillier was through with 19-under and Chacarra's group had finished 15th, it was clear that his strategy would be to play safe and defensively.

Under pressure to make a last-ditch effort, Hidalgo went for the high-risk second shot on the 16th. Teeing off from the Lodhi-era monument set on a high plinth, his idea was to sail the ball over the tree and land it as close to the invisible green as possible. But that had backfired and he hit the tree and landed in an area from where the green was again invisible and out of range. Chacarra and Scott Jamieson played it straight and to the left of the tree, from where they planned to play for par. But Hidalgo blasted his second shot and it went into the woods and he was red-flagged. He sought safety but only after dropping a shot and by the end of that hole, which got him a double bogey, he was out of contention.

With Hidalgo challenge out, it was only New Zealand's Daniel Hillier, who stood between the 26-year-old Chacarra and the title. Chacarra only had to avoid errors and he did.

The win took him to top of the Race to Dubai Rankings.

Chacarra has had a good time in India. He won the Indian Open in 2025 at the DLF Golf and Country Club. And now this.

"It's a country that's been awesome to me. Changed my life back in couple years ago at the Hero at DLF and obviously did it again here. Super proud of the win. Always love coming back to India. Love the people, love the food, loves the greens, and the golf courses," he said after the win.

Chacarra dedicated it to his grandfather who passed away 10 days ago.

"It was unexpected what happened but that's life. He had a great life. We were all very thankful for growing up with him. He helped me a lot in in everything he could. I knew he was going to push me and help me these couple weeks. I didn't get it done last two weeks in France and Spain, but he definitely helped me today," said Chacarra.

"I didn't have my best out there, so, yeah, this trophy, like I said, I dedicated to him. He's been very important in my path in golf."

Meanwhile, Anirban Lahiri ended with a bogey-free four-under 68 to finish as the leading Indian. Lahiri, who carded rounds of 70, 73 and 69 over the first three days, finished tied 23rd at eight-under-par. He avoided bogeys on the last day.

Yuvraj Sandhu also carded a four-under 68 in the final round to finish tied 34th at five-under.

Om Prakash Chouhan finished tied 42nd at four-under-par while Karandeep Kochhar finished tied 49th. After three successive rounds of 72, Kochhar found some momentum on the final day to improve his position.

Saptak Talwar, who began with a promising 71, returned a final-round 71 to finish tied 55th at one-under-par. His other rounds were 73 and 72.

Shiv Kapur endured a difficult finish, carding a three-over 75 in the final round after rounds of 72, 72 and 73. He ended the week tied 69th at four-over-par.

The six Indians who made it through to the weekend faced a demanding test at Delhi Golf Club, where the tree-lined fairways and strategic layout called for accuracy and careful course management.

Tags : Eugenio Chacarra, Golf, DP World, India, Angel Hidalgo, Danny Hillier