And that’s a wrap for Day 1 at the DP World India Championship.
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A misty morning gave way to a rainy Thursday, which almost seemed to jeopardize the hopes of little kids waiting outside the ropes with hats, balls, and autograph books. Spoiler: They got their autographs (at least some of them).
The rain came and went like the women in T.S. Eliot’s The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock. Rory, by the way, went back to the hotel and had lunch. Some stayed back at the course. After much bloviating inside the media center over whether the weather in Delhi was bleaker than the situation with LIV (over an unhealthy amount of coffee, Fanta, and other soft drinks, of course), the round resumed at 4 p.m. local time.
In between, Rory left for the hotel, had lunch, headed to the range, and came back to tee off on the sixth. Only for a short time, of course. The sun sets here in Delhi, almost an hour and a half before it does in Florida. Rory finished his round with par-saves on each hole after returning.
MacIntyre, meanwhile, duffed a bunker shot on the 8th, and Fleetwood had a few eventful and adventurous minutes on the 9th, which you can find here.
Here is how things stand:
- Niklas Norgaard leads after Round 1 with a 6-under 66 featuring an eagle on the first hole and six more birdies. Two untimely bogeys didn’t have much of an effect.
- A group of former and current LIV Golf pros is bunched together in the chasing pack. Tom McKibbin (Legion XIII), Thomas Detry (4Aces GC), and Eugenio Chacarra (left LIV last year) all shot 5-under to settle for T2.
- Patrick Reed, the third contender of the Race to Dubai title, made back-to-back bogeys on the 2nd and 3rd holes.
Moments that you missed (but I’ll catch you up):
- How tough is the job of groundscrew? Just take a look at this.
- What would you expect to see in a golf course? Squirrel? Alligators? Turtles? Behold the majestic peacocks at Delhi GC.
- Justin Rose made the most out of the rain delay. By chipping in his hotel room.
- Subash Tamang of Nepal became the first from his country to play on the DP World Tour. Bravo!
Quick bytes:
- Hole 9 played as the toughest of the day. The par-4 had a scoring average of +0.63 over par, with nine doubles and 28 bogeys.
- Norgaard’s eagle on the 1st hole was one of two eagles recorded today. The other one came from Aaron Rai. Again on the 1st hole.
- 12 players are yet to tee off, and a bunch of others are yet to complete their rounds.
Quotes & thoughts:
Rory McIlroy on getting into the swing again after a delay: “As the years go on, it sort of takes a bit longer to get yourself going. Had a couple of poor shots to start off with as we came back, but I actually hit it nicely the last couple holes.”
Niklas Norgaard on his eagle on the 1st hole: “Just a 5-iron off the tee, which is weird on the par-5, right? And then 2-iron up to four feet, and there you go. I have an eagle contest this year with Jakob Skov Olesen; [the eagle] brought me two ahead, so I’m pleased.”
Eugenio Chacarra on his history with Delhi, where he won his first DPWT title: “Just love the greens. I can see the breaks better than in other places. I know the lie and what it is. But, yeah, I’ve been having good greens like readings and good putts made when I play here, and today was kind of the same.”
Thomas Detry on the unique Delhi GC: “It’s the tightest golf course I’ve ever played. I don’t actually have the driver in the bag. Some of the golf courses in America where you really have just hit a driver and don’t even think about it. Here it’s all about, like, shaping your way around the golf course, making sure you’re not in the rough because the rough is really thick, especially with all the rain that came down.”
Tom McKibbin on his birdie stretch in the front nine: “My game has been a little bit off recently, and sort of to have that stretch is obviously very nice, especially around a golf course like this.”
That’s it for today. I’ll be back with a post-round update tomorrow.