Eugenio Chacarra claimed his maiden DP World Tour title on just his ninth appearance after recovering from a rocky start to his final round to win the Hero Indian Open by two shots thanks to a brilliant birdie burst.
The 25-year-old Spaniard took a slender one-shot lead into the fourth round but slipped from the top of the leaderboard after carding a double-bogey on the 1st and a bogey at the 3rd to return to level par for the week.
But he bounced back in style, making birdies at the 6th, 9th, 11th, 12th and 14th to open up a four-shot lead and regain control of the tournament.
He survived a late scare on the 17th after finding himself near the long grass following his second shot, escaping with a bogey, before closing his round with a par to stroll to victory at the difficult DLF Golf and Country Club.
The highlight of Chacarra’s round came at the 14th, where his speedy chip from a tricky spot in the rough ran straight into the hole for a bonus birdie instead of racing well past.
Chacarra, who also made a number of crucial par saves to keep the chasing pack at bay, finished the tournament on four under par, two shots clear of Keita Nakajima in second place, while Joost Luiten was another stroke back in third.
South Africa’s Brandon Stone shared sixth position on three over after a final-round 77.
Sunday was also a memorable day for Italy’s Andrea Pavan, who made a hole-in-one at the par-three 12th from 189 yards using a nine iron.
Chacarra got off to a shaky start as he opened his round with a disappointing double-bogey after watching his tricky bogey putt at the first just miss the hole.
Things would soon get worse as he bogeyed the 3rd, but he responded with a stunning approach at the 6th, using the slope on the green to set up a six-foot birdie putt.
He then holed from around seven feet on the 9th to get to two under and share the lead at the turn.
A fantastic par save followed on the 10th as Chacarra knocked in his slow 10-foot putt to remain at two under. And he judged his long-range birdie effort at the 11th to perfection to pick up another shot there.
Chacarra made it back-to-back birdies after hitting his tee-shot at the 12th pin high and converting the putt from 15 feet, to stretch his advantage to two shots.
A five-foot par save at the 13th kept the momentum going before he got a huge slice of luck with a chip-in birdie on the 14th, with his ball looking set to run a long way past the hole had it not hit the pin and gone in.
Chacarra safely parred the 15th and 16th but sent his approach at the 17th towards the long grass just short of the green to give late hope to the chasing pack.
He was unable to get up and down for par but managed to drop just the one shot to take a three-stroke lead to the 18th tee.
And he parred the 18th to close out a comfortable win.
Chacarra, who was playing on a tournament invitation this week, said: “Obviously I’d like to start by thanking Hero for giving me a chance to compete.
“I’m very grateful for that opportunity. You guys probably changed my life from today so thanks for that.
“It was a tough day, we knew it was going to be a long day with a lot of pressure and obviously not having the start I really wanted to.
“I think I did a great job all week of staying patient. And I know God was helping me today. I got a couple of good bounces [including] that chip on 14. I got some luck that you need to win but very proud.
“I know when I play my best I’m one of the best players in the world, I’ve already proved that a million times.
“It’s just awesome – it’s going to need to sink in but really proud and just happy.”
– Edited report from DP World Tour website
Photo: Jason Butler/Getty Images
