Eugenio Chacarra chases a rare double at Indian Open

GURUGRAM: Don't let the spring bloom, gentle streams, or the call of the peacock fool you. This beauty is a beast.

Sometimes a bogey is par for the course at the DLF Golf & Country Club. And the weekend's no party at the Hero Indian Open with the pin positions strategically, almost sadistically, placed on the slopes.

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The thicker rough, imposing bunkers, slow fringes, and a bright sun that dried up the greens, added to the misery on Saturday.

"It was a grind," admitted Eugenio Chacarra, who increased his lead at the $2.55 million event from one to four strokes at 10-under. It was particularly because his challengers failed to advance on 'moving day' while he soldiered on with a two-under 70.

It's how you handle your adversities that count on this course. Perhaps the biggest smiles on the Spaniard's face came when he conceded 'only' a bogey on the 6th, and made a par save on the 15th after back-to-back dropped shots. "It's just one stroke better, at the end of the round it's a lot of difference," summed up the defending champion, who won last year on a 3-under score.

Many promise never to return to what some golfers call "the hardest on the Tour". Others relish the challenge, including Chacarra.

At the 18th, the leading group formed a triangle, three different views from their putt positions, each touch a struggle. "I hit a great shot on the last right at the pin and I had almost an impossible two-putt," pointed out Chacarra. The last two days yielded a birdie and an eagle on the closing hole, today a par for a Saturday job well done.

In-form South African Casey Jarvis, who found his mojo with a 64 a day before, was stumped by his bogey. He retreated with a three-over 75, in tied-sixth.

MJ Daffue, in tied-second place with Alex Fitzpatrick, was happy to settle for a par there. "You can't leave yourself above a slope. The greens are just too fast," sighed the South African.

For MJ, the course is a "monster" but he will lean on the memory of winning the second-tier event at Classic last week. "At the end of the day, I should be able to apply that to any situation. I'll aim for 5-under tomorrow." It's a target that may prove ambitious given the conditions.

For Fitzpatrick, it was "tiring". "I feel like I just hit a couple of bad shots and shot level par," said Alex, the younger brother of 2022 US Open champ Matt Fitzpatrick, who won on the PGA Tour last Sunday.

Young Fitz was one of the few to hit a closing birdie. From his vantage point, he had the privilege of watching a golfer from the earlier group make a mess of his shot. The Englishman hit a nice chip. "I was lucky to hole the putt."

For Chacarra, a victory on Sunday would equal SSP Chawrasia's feat of winning the tournament in consecutive years. The challenge will not be about conquering the course, but surviving it once again.

Third round leaderboard: -10 Eugenio Chacarra (ESP) 67-69-70; -6 MJ Daffue (RSA) 71-67-72, Alex Fitzpatrick (ENG) 70-68-72; -5 Freddy Schott (GER) 66-73-72, David Law (SCO) 71-70-70.

Indian scores: +1 Om Prakash Chouhan 73-71-73 (T20); +6 Manoj S. 76-70-76 (T54); +9 Kshitij Naveed Kaul 73-75-77 (T63); Footnote: World No. 22 Akshay Bhatia missed the cut.
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