Former LIV Golfer Eugenio Chacarra Earns Full DP World Tour Status Via Hero Indian Open Victory

WELCOME

Hello and welcome to Golf Monthly's coverage of the Hero Indian Open final round. The leaders have just begun their back nine and it's Swede, Jens Dantorp narrowly out in front on two-under ahead of Brandon Stone and Eugenio Chacarra. Defending champion, Keita Nakajima is a stroke further back while Joost Luiten makes up the final player to sit at even par or better from the field of 156.

Thank you for joining us as we bring you all of the key updates until a champion is crowned later today.

CHACARRA BACK INTO A SHARE

Following a brilliant approach into the par-4 ninth, Chacarra sends a short right-to-left putt into the bottom of the hole for birdie. The former LIV man is back to two-under and alongside Dantorp at the top.

However, the Swede is in a spot of trouble ahead on the 10th and must make a 20-footer to escape with a par.

MORE CHANGE?

The final group is climbing the difficult 10th, with varying results so far. Brandon Stone was right off the tee and is scrambling to make his par from the rough short-right of the green. Chacarra - who currently leads - needs and up-and-down to escape without dropping a shot. Meanwhile, Nakajima has a decent birdie chance after finding the centre of the green from position A1 on the fairway.

CHACARRA ESCAPES

Nakajima is incredibly unlucky when attempting to dribble his birdie putt down the hill at the 10th. It hangs a wicked right at the hole but still stays just an inch above ground.

Seconds later, Chacarra pushes his ball down the hill for par and immediately stands up, looking as if he hates it. But the ball disappears into the right side of the hole and the leader remains in front by one. Elsewhere, Stone moves on with a decent bogey in the end.

DANTORP MISSES CHANCE

The Swede had a great chance to move back alongside Chacarra on the 11th thanks to a short birdie opportunity, but he pushed the left-to-right slider a little too much and it failed to turn back quickly enough. On this devilishly-tough layout, the short par-4 is one of few clear opportunities for a gain. Chacarra has just started it and is in the middle of the fairway courtesy of a sweetly-struck iron off the tee.

HERE COMES JOOST

The Netherlands' Joost Luiten joins Chacarra on two-under thanks to a superb birdie putt on the 12th from 20 feet or so. He's made two in a row and appears to be bubbling up nicely heading into the heart of the back nine.

On the 11th, all three players have a birdie putt. Nakajima is the closest.

STUNNING FROM CHACARRA

The young Spaniard has just produced a piece of magic to re-establish his lead. Faced with a double-breaker from 15 feet or so, Chacarra judges the line and the speed to perfection and sinks it. He's now on three-under. With pressure to follow him in, Nakajima misses from inside six feet. It looks as though the Japanese player will not defend his title with two bogeys early on and only pars since.

MOMENTUM BUILDING

The overnight leader is really in control now. He's four-under through the past seven holes (after losing three strokes in the first three holes) after sinking his 18-foot birdie putt on the par-3 12th. His direct rivals can't find a two on the same hole, so the advantage is now two strokes for Chacarra as Luiten escapes with a par on the 13th. Luiten had missed the fairway, though, so a par-4 was actually a good result for the Dutchman.

DLF SHOWING ITS TEETH

As players battle to make par left, right and centre, Matthew Jordan makes a seven at the par-4 13th. He was in position from 86 yards, but the greens are like upturned china plates. There's no friction in certain places and it's easy to rack up a big number. It will not be the Englishman's day. He just wants to get out of here.

ANOTHER BIRDIE CHANCE

Following Jordan into the 13th, Nakajima has given himself another really good look for birdie after Chacarra flew his approach to the back of the green. Somehow, the Spaniard's ball dug its heels in and stayed up on the short grass. That's the kind of luck you receive when you're leading and playing well.

Brandon Stone was down the front of the green and showed his playing partners exactly how it's done, rolling the ball home from range.

NOTHING FOR NAKAJIMA

It's another miss from Nakajima. The Japanese pro has not made a birdie since round two on Friday! Yet, he's still only four shots off the lead.

It could have been just three after Chacarra smashed his own birdie effort up the hill and left himself four feet coming back. The leader avoid a three-putt, though, and they're onto the most difficult hole on the course.

Up ahead, Joost Luiten has just putted from a good 30-40 yards away on the 535-yard par-4 14th, that's how quick this course is playing and how tough it is to get close on that green.

HARDEST HOLE

The 14th hole is a 535-yard par FOUR on Sunday - the very back tees are being used today. It is a dogleg-left and there are a few different ways to go about escaping with a par. You can either take an iron and chase one around the corner, which is how Brandon Stone has chosen to play it or rocket a driver into the second fairway. This is the riskiest strategy and the one employed by Chacarra - somewhat surprisingly. Nakajima takes his trusty 3-wood and fires one to the end of the first fairway.

This hole could go a long way to deciding who lifts the trophy a little later on.

TWO PLAYERS UNDER PAR

Jens Dantorp falls victim to the aforementioned 14th, making bogey, and drops back to even par. There are now just two players under par for the tournament.

SHORT-GAME TEST

Chacarra drove his ball 351 yards, leaving a shorter iron in, but the approach failed to find the green and fell off to the left. He'll face a horrible chip out of the rough.

Brandon Stone is short and in arguably the best place. He takes advantage by leaving his ball some eight feet above the hole. Meanwhile, Nakajima's ball trickled off into the little valley short and right.

The Japanese man fires his chip into the bank and watches it bounce up to a matter of feet. That's class.

CHACARRA NAME ON THE TROPHY

That is incredible! Chacarra has surely won this now. Facing a downhill chip out of the rough onto what is effectively lubricated glass, the Spaniard dabbed his ball down towards the hole and saw it race across the putting surface before clattering into the flagstick flush and dropping in. If that hadn't hit the pin, Chacarra was looking at a huge number. As it is, he's all but won this, you feel. There's almost no way the 25-year-old doesn't come out on top with that sort of luck on his side.

FOUR-SHOT GAP

Chacarra's romp towards the title was already looking pretty comfortable, but it's just become even better as Joost Luiten bogeys the par-5 15th. This is a 606-yard hole, and Chacarra has just taken a huge chunk out of it with his massive drive. Get the champagne (or sangria) on ice.

DANTORP BIRDIE

The Swede has increased the population of the under-par club by one after making birdie at the 15th. There are now three pros in the red for the week. He confidently rolls home a short putt which moved swiftly from left to right.

While Dantorp has temporarily moved to within four of Chacarra, the Spaniard has perfectly plotted his way down the 15th and has set up a simple birdie chance of his own. The gap could well be five very soon.

NAKAJIMA FINALLY MAKES BIRDIE

The defending champion has snapped his birdie-less streak at last! Faced with an awkward downhill left-to-right slider, Nakajima wastes no time before sinking it. That must be a relief, although still frustrating that it arrived so late.

Moments before, Chacarra lips out with his own birdie effort from six feet but ends up tidying up for par.

MAMMOTH PAR-3

Things you don't want to see as the leader of a professional tournament. Firstly, a 263-yard par-3. Secondly, traffic in front which forces you to wait on such a daunting shot. The tee box is up on a cliff at DLF, so there's about 20 yards of drop-off to think about as well. The pin location is in quite a friendly place, with a bank helping golf balls find their way towards the hole. Nevertheless, it's far from an easy hole.

Chacarra's wait is being lengthened by real trouble for Troy Merritt. The American saw his ball fall off to the left and roll back down a cart path for about 70 yards into a penalty area. The third shot bounced off the cart path and back into a bush. Merritt is now playing fifth shot but has plenty of real estate remaining between himself and the hole.

NOT WORTH THE WAIT

After an 11-minute wait, the final group is away. Nakajima went right at it and saw his ball scuttle out to the back of the green while Chacarra and Stone now face awfully fast chip shots down towards the hole after marginally-errant tee shots. Both players would have been about six to 10 feet away if their tee balls had landed maybe a foot or two closer to the hole.

STUNNING RECOVERY

Stone's chip on was a little heavy handed and he ultimately loses out in his fight to save par. But Chacarra's second was sublime. The champion-elect putted it down the hill from just in the rough and watched his ball trickle down right next to the hole. Just two more holes to navigate.

Nakajima, going for it all late on, powered his birdie putt about eight feet past but does brilliantly to save par.

DANTORP CAN'T CLOSE IN

With a chance to close in on Chacarra at the 17th, Dantorp mis-reads his birdie look and stays at one-under for the week. There is a chance for someone to take solo second and pick up a much bigger check than they're currently on for, but no one seems able to grasp the opportunity right now.

Just behind, Chacarra takes an iron into the fiddly 17th hole and finds the centre of the fairway. I'm not sure it's in his DNA, but it could pay to play it safe into the significantly-raised 17th green. He doesn't, and the ball has landed short in the vegetation just before the bunker. This could be real trouble for Chacarra.

LATE DRAMA

Well, well, well. Maybe this isn't over after all. Chacarra just about had a shot from the heavy grass in front of the green. All he could do was stab it out onto the putting surface. Chacarra has a putt for par from maybe 12-15 feet. Meanwhile, Nakajima has a putt for par, though, after a superb (and brave) approach.

DROPPED SHOT

Chacarra, all things considered, will be quite pleased with only one dropped shot at the 17th. His par putt was never anywhere close to dropping, but the Spaniard made no mistake with the one coming back. The lead is three going down 18. Is that enough? It should be, but there is water and a potential eagle on the table still.

TALE OF TWO DRIVES

Nakajima simply has to make eagle on 18. He's made a great start by leaving himself on a flat(ish) lie with a great view of the green down below. Meanwhile, Chacarra has potentially over-drawn his drive and could well have a horrible stance with the ball well above his feet. Still, with a three-shot lead and no need to go for broke, he'll likely punch one down the hill and try to just make five or six at worst. The only way the Spaniard could mess this up is if he tries to go for the green from here, you feel.

NAKAJIMA HAS AN EAGLE CHANCE

The Japanese player takes out a wood and blasts one into the New Delhi sky. It somehow lands quite soft and rolls out to 30 feet. It's a chance, but maybe not as good as it could have been. In response, Chacarra throws a wedge under the hole and has some 10-15 feet left for birdie. That might well be that.

NAKAJIMA TAKES SOLO SECOND

The eagle putt is an excellent one from Nakajima, but it just fails to turn left enough. Still, the Japanese player can console himself with a solo-second finish.

EUGENIO CHACARRA WINS THE 2025 HERO INDIAN OPEN

Chacarra dribbles up his birdie putt next to the hole, marks it, and then taps in for par. That's the Hero Indian Open title for Chacarra! The former LIV player has landed his third worldwide win, with this one earning him a full DP World Tour card and a route back towards the PGA Tour. It will mean the world to a player who was entered into this event as a sponsor's invite.

HEAR FROM THE CHAMPION

Chacarra started out by thanking tournament sponsor, Hero - saying they "probably changed my life" after giving him the chance to play and ultimately secure his playing rights for the next couple of seasons.

Chacarra went on to admit that he "got some good bounces and good luck" needed to win but felt he did a really good job of staying patient. He believes he is "one of the best players in the world" and is happy that he proved it.