DP World India Championship: How the best golfers in the world adapted their game in Delhi for a riveting match
Global golf stars like Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood and Keita Nakajima played at the Delhi Golf Club for the DP World India Championship. While the star power shone a light on Indian golf, the game they played was a pleasure to watch
For the opening round, Rory McIlroy—universally acknowledged as one of the longest and straightest drivers of the golf ball in history—arrived without a driver in the bag. You can’t overstate the significance of that move. When the world’s No. 2 player, and arguably the best driver of the ball ever, benches his most potent weapon, the golfing world stops and pays attention. He’s never done that before—not as a professional, not as an amateur.
McIlroy wasn’t the only one. Tommy Fleetwood, who went on to win the event, Viktor Hovland, Keita Nakajima—in fact, 42% of the field—chose to keep the driver out of play at Delhi Golf Club last week.
The phrase “championship layout", has become commonplace—a tag claimed by almost every course with manicured fairways, a marquee designer’s signature, and a few photogenic holes. There’s no shortage of such “modern championship" layouts today. The U.S. Open, often dubbed golf’s toughest test, usually showcases the most punishing of that breed.
Then there’s the original: Links golf. Undulating terrain, deep pot bunkers, and fickle weather—the way golf was meant to be played. The Open Championship still prides itself on being the true test of golf.
But the quirks of links golf are unique to the British Isles. Elsewhere—especially in calmer climates—golf has become more predictable. In this world of hallowed links and sprawling American monsters, the humble parkland course often gets overlooked.
That, more than anything, was the takeaway from the DP World India Championship 2025. A 7,000-yard course that forced the best in the world to think, to recalibrate, to hit a variety of clubs and shapes—and in the process, made golf infinitely more watchable.
Golf didn’t suddenly get harder last week. Fleetwood’s winning score of 22-under is proof of that. But it got smarter, more strategic, and frankly, more fun—both to play and to watch.
Mental strength made its cameo too. On the final day, New Zealand’s Daniel Hillier—whose breakthrough win came in 2023 when he finished with two eagles and a birdie in the last four holes of the British Masters—was on the verge of another spectacular finish going seven under through ten holes, taking a two-shot lead on the final day in Delhi. Then came one loose swing on 14: double bogey. Another dropped shot on 15, and his challenge was over. Hillier hadn’t put a foot wrong all day. Just one lapse—adrenaline, nerves, pressure—and that was that. There’s a reason conservative play won the day at the DGC.
Fleetwood, by contrast, was unflappable. On the eve of the event, he spoke about how failure had shaped him. Thirty top-five finishes on the PGA Tour before his breakthrough at the FedEx Cup this year.
“There’s no point dwelling on those," he said after the pro-am, referring to near-misses. “You know what you’re capable of, and you just keep working at it."
His game, with that trademark abbreviated finish, is about control. No fireworks, no ego, no detours from the game plan—just relentless precision, course management, and putts that dropped when they had to. It was a masterclass in how to plot your way around a golf course.
The “home course" advantage never materialised for the Indian challenge; Shiv Kapur finished as the top Indian in 32nd place. “It was an amazing week. Who would have imagined such a star cast on my home course for such a big purse," said Kapur who won an Asian Tour event at the DGC in 2017.
Among other notables, Nakajima continued his love affair with India. The Japanese player was the third round leader at the DGC but eventually finished second to Fleetwood. It was Nakajima’s second DP World Tour runner-up finish in India after he very nearly defended his title at the Indian Open earlier this year.
The DP World India Championship 2025 tested players differently—and from the looks of it, they loved it. McIlroy’s presence, along with Fleetwood and Hovland, brought a kind of spotlight India hasn’t seen in years. Whether it becomes a permanent stop on the DP World Tour’s Asian Swing remains to be seen, but it deserves to be.
One can be reasonably certain of this: the pros will want to come back. A week of variety—of shot-making instead of driver-wedge monotony—made for a refreshing change. The only discordant note was Delhi’s air quality, which dipped sharply on Sunday. A tweak in scheduling next year might be on the cards.
“More people turning out to watch is great," McIlroy said on the eve of the event, when this writer asked him about golf’s inherent character. “But I’d much rather more people play the game. That’s how they’ll discover what golf’s really about—what makes it unique." Golf in India remains elitist, yes, but it still holds on to something precious—its nuance, its sense of tradition, its traditions. And at the DGC it still remains, as it should, a game of skill.
Meraj Shah is a Delhi-based writer, golfer and television producer.
topics
