Freddy Schott carded a six under par 66 to lead by one from defending champion Eugenio Chacarra after the first round of the 2026 Hero Indian Open.
The German, winner of last month’s Bapco Energies Bahrain Championship, made a superb start at DLF Golf & Country Club with six birdies in his first 12 holes.
Bogeys at the 14th and 17th brought him back to the pack, particularly as Chacarra finished strongly, but on both occasions, he responded with a birdie at the next to get back to six under.
Chacarra was one over par through five holes after bogeys at the second and the fifth, but he bounced back with six birdies to sign for a five under 67.
A pinpoint approach to the seventh proved the kick-start his round needed, setting up the first of two successive gains to ensured he was under par at the turn.
Another pair at the tenth and 11th, the later after a beautifully-judged pitch, and a fifth in seven holes at the 13th took him level with Dan Bradbury and as Schott battled with the difficult closing stretch, Chacarra birdied the 18th before Schott responded in kind.
“I’m very pleased,” Schott said. “I was really solid out there today and it was pretty much a flawless round of golf. Two drops but at least those were the most difficult holes so it’s alright. I guess it might be the hardest course this year. Your game has to be so good overall, there’s not a thing which can leak.
“You’ve got to be very good off the tee to actually give yourself some chances, you’ve got to be good into the greens, hit the right areas, and make your putts so it’s a really tough, testing golf course. We said we’re going to be conservative off the tee most of the time, and then be aggressive into the greens when we’ve got a wedge in hand. Wedging was good today, putting was good, so that led to that score.
“It was obviously a massive confidence-booster for the year, winning in Bahrain, but I just want to keep on going and see where that leads me and hopefully we can have a nice week out here.”
Bradbury started on the back nine with three birdies and added another at the first.
Bogeys at the fourth and sixth threatened to stop his momentum but he responded in style by birdieing his last two holes for a 68.
Niklas Nørgaard posted a three under par 68 he shared fourth place with Martin Couvra, Calum Hill and Gregorio De Leo on three under, with a further nine players at two under.
Round one was suspended at 6:40pm local time due to darkness and will resume at 7:35am tomorrow.
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