Akshay Bhatia suffered a first-round rules violation at the Hero Indian Open, contributing to his missed cut at DLF Country Club. The recent Arnold Palmer Invitational winner carded a 5-over 77 in the opening round before playing even par on Friday.
Akshay Bhatia entered the Hero Indian Open at DLF Country Club in Delhi as the betting favorite after winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational. His round started poorly on the par-4 10th hole with a drive out of bounds, resulting in a double-bogey six. He birdied the 11th but dropped shots on 13 and 14 before a critical error on the par-5 15th. Bhatia struck the wrong ball with his second shot but spotted his actual ball nearby, notified a rules official, and proceeded with the correct ball, incurring a two-shot penalty under Rule 6.3c for a triple-bogey eight. Had he not corrected before starting another hole, disqualification would have followed. He closed his back nine with a double-bogey on 18 for a 44, then made three birdies on the front nine for a total first-round 77, five over par. Bhatia shot even par on Friday and missed the cut. “Glad I didn’t shoot 80!” Bhatia told the DP World Tour after his opener. “Yeah, tough day – hit the wrong ball, which was very unfortunate, and just did not play good on the first nine. Shooting three under on my back side was great and look, this golf course is hard so if I can just try and get it back to even par, I think it’ll be a nice comeback for me. I’ll never give up and that’s kind of the goal.” Bhatia described DLF as punishing: “It’s a tough golf course. I mean, I hit it OB on the first hole so it’s just, like, you can hit shots that are five, 10 yards off your line and just be really in a tough position.” First-round leader Freddy Schott fired a 6-under 66, calling it potentially the hardest course of the year. Schott followed with 1 over across the next two rounds and trails defending champion Eugenio Charcarra by five entering the final round.
