Eugenio Chacarra had absolute control of the Hero Indian Open until the 10th hole of the final round this Sunday. At that moment, with a very makeable birdie opportunity of about a metre and a half, the only calculations at the DLF Golf and Country Club were about by how many strokes the Madrid native would win
It seemed written. His composure had once again been fantastic, apart from an unexpected bogey at the 8th after sending his tee shot into the water. Making that putt on 10 would have put him four strokes clear of MJ Daffue, the same lead he had at the start of the day, and five ahead of Matt Fitzpatrick. But he missed it… and the tournament changed
From there, Fitzpatrick produced a majestic run at the same time as Chacarra suffered a collapse no one had forecast. The Englishman began holing putts as if there were no tomorrow. He holed a superb one at 11, another at 12, a third of about five metres at 13, all for birdie, and still managed an extraordinary save for par at 14. He missed the tee shot to the right, the ball came to rest on the high-cut edge of the rough, he had to play short and made an approach and a putt from around 100 metres. The par putt was about three metres
Amid this Fitzpatrick explosion, Chacarra missed his second shot at 11 and failed to get up-and-down from the deep rough. At 13 he left it practically set up for a birdie, but it didn’t matter because Fitzpatrick had already holed his. And at 14 he made an easy par after pushing for birdie. The Spaniard still held the lead by one stroke, but it was official: the momentum had changed. Alex’s arrows were pointing up and Eugenio’s down
The 15th produced the definitive change of guard. A bad hole from Chacarra, impeccable from Fitzpatrick. The Englishman produced an easy birdie while pushing for eagle, whereas the Spaniard fell apart and finished with a bogey. His tee shot found the left bunker, he had to play short and the big error came with the third shot. He didn’t reach the green and the ball rolled back down to the front run-off area. His approach wasn’t precise and he ended up putting from distance for par. It didn’t drop. A two-shot swing. For the first time in almost two years, Chacarra was no longer the leader of the tournament
Against all expectations, Eugenio capitulated. He three-putted the 16th and hit a very poor second shot at 17. Two consecutive bogeys. Just in case, Fitzpatrick still produced a great birdie on that penultimate hole and went to 18 with a four-shot lead. In seven holes he had clawed back eight strokes on the Madrid native. Unthinkable
Alex was now only thinking about winning the tournament and he finished with a double bogey. He could not make another stroke. You cannot play more conservatively. It has cost him so much to secure this first victory that he wouldn’t risk it on the final hole. Fitzpatrick won with a total of -9 and a final round of 69, two strokes ahead of Chacarra, who carded a 75, his worst round in two years at the DLF at the worst possible moment
The celebration continues at the Fitzpatricks’ home. After Matt’s win last Sunday, now comes Alex’s first on the DP World Tour in India. In addition, the doors to the PGA Championship are thrown wide open, although he will still have to secure his place via the Asian Swing in the two remaining tournaments (China Open and Turkey). Meanwhile, Chacarra is left without that second victory, although sole second place also allows him to fight for that spot in the PGA Championship
As for the other Spaniards, a very good final round from Ángel Ayora (-1), 70 strokes, the best of the week, to finish in eleventh position. Only nine players managed to go under par today and two of them were Spanish. Besides Ayora, Quim Vidal achieved it (PAR), 71 strokes. The Catalan finishes in the top 15 and gives his season a first big boost, right in the same country where he secured his first win on the HotelPlanner Tour last year
Also, Jorge Campillo (+3) finished in the top 20, good points with the PGA Championship in mind via the Asian Swing, Nacho Elvira (+7), Manu Elvira (+10), Sebas García (+10) and Iván Cantero (+15)
