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This is it. Golf's breakthrough in India. And nobody is watching or cares.

Writer's picture: Matt HooperMatt Hooper

International Series India set to be the greatest golf event ever staged in India; Eugenio Chacarra leads in Delhi, as US Open Champion Bryson DeChambeau lurks 2 shots back at DLF Country Club



Bryson DeChambeau speaks to the media / Picture by Paul Lakatos/Asian Tour.
Bryson DeChambeau speaks to the media / Picture by Paul Lakatos/Asian Tour.


The Asian Tour is expecting record crowds for a golf event in India this week as the tour stages its first International Series event in the world's most populous country. US Open Champion Bryson DeChambeau is headlining a field which includes 13 current LIV Golf members, notably Joaquin Niemann, and all of the best players from the Asian Tour, with 16 Indian golfers among them.


"It’s going to be a sell out crowd over the weekend, with more than 20,000 fans expected for the final two days" reports Flushing It Golf. The DP World Tour has sanctioned events in India since 2009, including the Hero Indian Open since 2015, and the events have come nowhere near attracting crowds of that scale. That is largely due to the level of player participating, and this week the Asian Tour, thanks to its partnership with LIV Golf, has been able to attract one of the biggest stars in world golf in Bryson DeChambeau.


This week the International Series India presented by DLF is up against the Bapco Energies Bahrain Championship on the DP World Tour, and the AT&T Pebble Beach pro-am on the PGA TOUR, yet the energy around the event is massive. It feels like this is the breakthrough moment for professional golf in India.




But the outside world, it seems, does not care.


In the UK the Asian Tour does not currently have a broadcaster, after Premier Sports deal concluded at the end of 2024 following the Saudi International, with no replacement confirmed to date. So this great event, which is seen as being transformational for professional golf in the world's most populous country, is not being seen in one of the biggest golf markets in the world.


And, by the looks of it, International Series India presented by DLF, is transformational.





In the United States of America, GOLF Channel are showing 2 hours of tape delayed action early on Saturday morning, and mid-morning on Sunday. The mainstream golf media should be highlighting this event as a major moment in the sport, as golf looks set to take off in the world's biggest country, and a country which has a passion for sport as big as its population. Just a few years ago the Asian Tour had a deal with Sky Sports, but the breakdown in relations between the Asian Tour and DP World Tour, along with the emergence of LIV Golf, has seen the tour disappear from UK screens, and disappear from the mainstream golf media landscape.


The establishment's continued reticence to take big time golf to India leaves a gaping hole in the golf world, and it is one which will almost certainly be filled by LIV Golf. This week is seen as being a test event for a future LIV Golf event in the country, probably at DLF Country Club, and judging by the crowds on day one, the test has been a flying success.


As darkness fell on Thursday, Bryson DeChambeau and Joaquin Niemann were 2-under-par through 16 holes, 2 shots off the joint lead held by Eugenio Chacarra and Kazugi Higa (Japan). Anirban Lahiri is the top Indian golfer, after a level par round of 72.




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