Andrew's PGTI Open (HPT) Preview

A little housekeeping to start the column, because that’s always fun. We had an unexpected week off last week as the Indorama Ventures Open did go ahead at the Kalhaar Blues and Greens Club, but it wasn’t co-sanctioned. This was because the HotelPlanner Tour felt that a majority of their players would be unable to get to the venue given the issues with flights in the Middle East. Clearly, there are some enormous strategic and humanitarian issues involved but this is a golf column and, from a golf perspective, this was slightly annoying. Particularly because Ahmedabad is one of the likelier cities to host the 2036 Olympics and this the likeliest golf venue. But we can see it in another year. For the record, Saptak Talwar beat Christoph Bleier, one of a few Europeans who did make it over.

As I didn’t write last week, I should also clean up the KFT from a fortnight ago, when the Chile Classic was held. Doc Redman was your winner by five strokes and it never really looked in doubt. For those of you with long memories, Doc Redman won the 2017 U.S. Amateur at Riviera as the 62^nd seed after stroke play (he actually won his way into the match play section from a seven-out-of-eleven playoff, which Scottie Scheffler did not) but this was his first professional win. He’s been close a few times at the PGA level but his putting and chipping have let down this flusher through his career. Hopefully this signals a return to the top. We finished with three players in the top twenty but no returns, as Sandy Scott put us through the longest ride on the par train I’ve ever seen in a professional tournament, and Yuta Sugiura did the exact opposite!

Looking forward, the Korn Ferry Tour will be back next week for the Club Car Championship in Savannah, Georgia, but this week we do have an HPT event in India, albeit one with a weak field. We would always have anticipated a weaker field for these events than the South African events, partly because the co-sanctioning body plays a weaker standard of golf and partly because fewer “core” players from the European bases will make the trip.  However, with travel complications ongoing and only one week’s potential pay to justify the intercontinental trip, it is perhaps unsurprising that we are seeing the weakest HPT field I can remember. Let’s get into it.

The Tournament

We’re in Gurugram, a well-heeled city that these days is part of the New Delhi metropolis (at time of the year that mns, hot, dry and mostly calm conditions, though there may be a little wind early on Thursday and Friday) and we’re at the Classic Golf and Country Club. As I said in my preview last year you can’t be fooled by the name – there’s nothing Classic about this modern Jack Nicklaus course. You also shouldn’t be fooled by this being called the PGTI Open or by the HotelPlanner Tour website offering no event history – this is the Delhi Challenge with a new name, and it has been hosted here twice before at the same time of year. John Parry won in 2024 and Quim Vidal last year.

Anyone reading a preview of a minor HPT event is already interested in golf, and as such, you can anticipate a lot of what I’m about to write from the above paragraph. Yes, Jack Nicklaus course means an emphasis on challenging approach shots into well-defended greens. Yes, Parry and Vidal mean that length is not a massive advantage (this is a 7,114 yard par 72 so it is far from the shortest HPT event and is positively monstrous for the PGTI, but it isn’t beyond any of these professionals.) Yes, playing in India, especially if there is a disrupted build-up, will provide specific challenges to the incoming players.

What you won’t get from guesswork is a sense of the land the course is built on, which is naturally undulating and sandy, with bunkers augmented by natural waste areas. I said last year that there was a faint hint of links golf to the uneven landing spots and the focus on shot-making, and I’m happy enough with that analysis. However, with far fewer UK and Irish players in this field – or anyone else with much links experience – it is less useful this year. I’m certainly looking for experience and nous, ideally for experience playing in India and coping with conditions, and I’m looking for players who can play a range of approach shots well.

The Field

I don’t normally look at the whole field but it may be helpful this year. If you don’t read my substack – and why not, it is free and takes you into the weeds on all sorts of funny tours – you won’t have seen much coverage of the PGTI outside of India. It’s fair to say that it isn’t a deep tour, it doesn’t play on the greatest courses (for instance, some events are played on a nine hole course, whilst a recent tournament saw Jared Hack win at -30, which sounds impressive, but he managed it on a 6,085 yard par 69) but it has free coverage on YouTube that I can watch in the mornings, it has loyal followers and Indian golf is growing fast. I love it. The question is, can any of their players compete here?

The issue is that there isn’t much depth in Indian golf, and their stars play elsewhere. Anirban Lahiri is in South Africa this week with LIV and Shub Sharma with the DPWT in China, whilst Rayhan Thomas is one of the brighter lights for the future and he’s on the KFT for a second year. Even the likes of Gaganjeet Bhullar and Ajeetesh Sandhu are plying their trade on the Asian Tour. Topping the PGTI rankings currently is Saptak Talwar. He’s 27, played minor collegiate golf at Sacred Heart (Connecticut) and is yet to show much in co-sanctioned events or his few chances on bigger tours.  He might step up but he’s probably out of his depth here. 

For my money, the classiest Indian player in the field is Veer Ahlawat, who qualified for the DPWT by topping the PGTI order of merit a couple of years ago, but he was poor on the bigger tour last year and has returned to this level. He’s one to watch. I’d also draw your attention to Jhared Hack, about whom more here. He’s playing awfully well. Yuvraj Sandhu is stepping down from DPWT level as last year’s Order of Merit winner and he’s a threat. Bangladesh gives us the Hossain brothers, of whom veteran Jamal is one to watch, and the Baisoya brothers (keep an eye on Honey) are notable locals here. Shaurya Bhattacharya and Manu Gandas are effective PGTI players and the former, at 23, is still improving and in decent form. He can improve on last year’s 33^rd. All of these players have ceilings, however, and only one Indian player, Arjun Prasad, has made the top ten here in the first two iterations.  Prasad is back and in solid form.  I’ll return to one more within selections.

To me, the favourites are very much from the HPT side, and other than Ahlawat, that’s what the market shows. However, with fewer players coming over it is a weaker group. Tapio Pulkkannen has a top ten here against a better field, and he’s a player I like a lot at this level. On the other hand, he hasn’t won since he took down the now defunct Kazakhstan Challenge back in 2017. Most good players win an event between the ages of 26 and 35 (stop me if this analysis gets too complex) and that doesn’t scream 12/1 shot to me. Pablo Ereno is just out of college and whilst he’s enormously talented, he’s got a long way to go to justify those prices too. The final player I want to mention is Clement Sordet who, like Bleier, was able to play last week and did nicely enough in fifth. He’s got solid links form and was close to making the selections but his price is too skinny for his current form.

The Selections

Until I saw the odds, I wasn’t sure if I’d have a bet on this event. Then I thought it might bea single bullet on Pulkkannen (but I wanted 16/1.) I looked seriously at all the Indian players above, and at Sordet and Ereno. After a long look at the market, I’m left with just two who I think represent value, and they couldn’t be more different. First of the pair is Jamie Rutherford, who was 15^th here last year, shortly after he won a Challenge Tour event at Royal Cape Town, a similarly accuracy-driven course with small greens and challenging lines. I think of him as young but he’s 33 now and has been around the fringes of the DPWT for a number of years. He’s got links nous (he was tenth at Galgorm Castle in 2023) and he comes here in decent enough form, making the cut at Houghton in the Joburg Open last time. After narrowly missing his place on the DPWT in the last two Road to Majorca placings (by three spots last year and one spot in 2024) it is no surprise that he’s motivated enough to come here and he’s certainly good enough to pick up a win at a course that will suit him ideally.

Secondly, I am taking an Indian player. The paucity and comparative weakness of the visiting field means that I’m pretty confident we’ll see a “home” player or two outperforming the last couple of years’ best, and although I’ve listed the biggest names, I think the value is Anshul Kabthiyal. At just 21 he’s new to the game but if there’s anyone in the field younger than Bhattacharya and with as high a ceiling, it is this young star. He’s picked up three top tens in his last six starts, is noted for his tee to green power and accuracy and has been completely overlooked in the market.  There’s no more to this pick than my belief that he should be priced much closer to the elite Indian players (with Bhattacharya at 45/1 and Honey Baisoya at 60/1 sounds about right to me). That makes him a must-bet.

• Jamie Rutherford, 45/1, 1pt e/w, ¼ odds 5 places, Bet365

• Anshul Kabthiyal, 140/1, 1pt e/w, ¼ odds 5 places, Bet365