Austin, Texas March 28: South Africa’s Justin Harding, a two-time Asian Tour winner took down 2013 U.S. Amateur champion Matthew Fitzpatrick of England 1-up in his first career match play at the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play on Thursday.

Harding was 2-down with three holes to play but won the last three holes against the Englishman.

“I definitely feel as though I stole it. I, like Matty, didn’t really get too much going. I battled with the club selection pretty much the entire day. I hung in there, missed a couple of putts I probably would otherwise like to have not missed. But I guess the up-and-down on 17 was quite special,” said Harding.

The South African will face off against Rory McIlroy in his next match and is ready to put up a stern challenge against the world number four.

”I think I’m going to have to improve a little bit to take him on. Rory’s been playing great over the last couple of weeks. It will be a nice opportunity for me to see how it’s done inside the ropes, and maybe learn a little bit as well, and give the boy a little bit of a challenge,” said Harding.

Big-hitting Kiradech, who qualified for the quarterfinals here last year before bowing out to eventual winner Bubba Watson, meanwhile fought hard in his opening Group 6 match against four-time PGA TOUR winner Marc Leishman before losing 2-up on the 18th hole.

The Thai star kept the match close with some good play but his putting let him down as he made just three birdies during his match.

“I fought hard but didn’t make too many putts. I had some chances but the putts didn’t want to go in. It was good that I kept fighting until the 18th hole and Marc then just hit a great shot into 18 to make birdie for the win. I’ve got no choice now but to try and win my match against Bryson (DeChambeau) tomorrow. He is a great player but I will give it my best,” said Kiradech, the first Thai to play on the PGA TOUR.

As one in a series of four World Golf Championships events sanctioned and organised by the operational committee of the International Federation of PGA Tours, which includes the Asian Tour, European Tour, Japan Golf Tour, PGA TOUR, PGA Tour of Australasia and Sunshine Tour, the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play is one of the most exciting and biggest events on golf’s calendar.

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By Olle Nordberg, Former Asian Tour and European Tour professional

At most Tour events there are a few key holes that have the possibility to make or break a round, scoring wise and mentally. Holes that can prove pivotal to a win or top finish on Sunday afternoons if they are managed successfully or mean a missed opportunity if not executed well.

They can be risk or reward type of holes such as reachable par-four’s or par-five’s where eagles and birdies can be had, but with trouble waiting for errant shots bringing bogeys or worse into play. They can also be difficult holes where par is a good score that players will have to navigate safely to keep a good round going.

The Gary Player designed course at DLF Golf and Country Club is definitely a course where you need to be at the top of your game to have a chance to win on Sunday afternoon. It will challenge all parts of your game and can be very intimidating visually as well.

Many of the holes have no safe bail-out like a lot of other courses, a bad swing is very likely going to cost at least one shot and quite possibly more. In last year’s Hero Indian Open at DLF there were 318 double-bogeys, 57 triple-bogeys, 23 quadruple-bogeys and five more unmentionables made.

At the DLF Gary Player Course holes number nine, 14, 17 and 18 can be considered key holes for any player that has aspirations to win the championship:

KEY HOLES

• Hole 9:

This short par-four is reachable off the tee for many players depending on the wind and where the markers are placed, and the last two editions of the Hero Indian Open has seen a number of players attempting to do so. If going for the green with the tee-shot, players will need to avoid the lake guarding the right side and the sloping rough on the left.

A well-executed swing should be rewarded with an excellent chance for birdie or even eagle, and this hole has produced nine eagles and 239 birdies the past two years. It has also seen 37 doubles, five triples and three quads, so aggressive play is not always recommended.

Playing to an average of 3.940 or 0.06 under par, it has played as the second and third easiest hole in 2017 or 2018 respectively.

• Hole 14:

The long dogleg left par-4 has been the most difficult hole at DLF both the last two years, with a difficult to find fairway and an even more difficult green to hit in regulation. Only 41.08% of players did so in 2017/2018 which would explain the average score of 4.520 or 0.520 over par.

Only 56 birdies have been made on 14, against 71 doubles and 21 triples and higher with one unfortunate player carding a dreaded double-digit 10 in 2018. Par is a very good score on this hole.

• Hole 17:

The signature hole of the course and one of the most scenic holes on tour. A tee-shot that finds the fairway will leave players with an uphill second shot to a highly elevated green protected by a massive rock formation. Playing around 14 yards uphill makes it more difficult to control the distance on the approach, as the ball will be coming in on a flatter trajectory making it more difficult to stop on the green. Any shots coming up short will be bouncing off the rocks and ending up in the hazard.

The hole has played to a 4.255 average or 0.255 over par, with 112 birdies made but also 35 doubles and 14 triples or more.

• Hole 18:

Not a pleasant tee-shot if you don’t have your shot-shape dialed in, with an intimidating view from the tournament tee. The lake that goes all along the left side of the hole will catch any balls going even slightly left, and the bush to the right of the fairway is not much less penalizing. However, a precise drive can make the green reachable in two for the longer hitters and give them a chance for a closing eagle or birdie.

This is a hole where no lead may be safe on Sunday afternoon, as the wide range of scores in previous editions of the Hero Indian Open has shown.

The average score on 18 has been 5.275 or 0.275 over par, with eight eagles and 192 birdies against 62 doubles and 43 triples and higher. Included in those were four 10s and one 11 which proves that anything can happen on the last hole of the event.

ANALYSIS

DLF Golf and Country Club’s Gary Player Course is a difficult one to navigate without costly mistakes, and the route to success in the Hero Indian Open will be to keep big numbers off the card and take advantage of the easier scoring holes.

In 2018 Matt Wallace won the event by playing the key holes in one under par for the week, beating the field average by 4.64 strokes.

More importantly, Wallace played the ninth hole in 3-under par for the week, whereas runner-up Andrew Johnston, losing to Wallace in a play-off, double-bogeyed the hole on Thursday and only managed one birdie on the hole the next three rounds. A costly difference of four shots by end of the week.

S.S.P Chawrasia won the 2017 edition by making very few mistakes all week. Only six bogeys against 16 birdies meant he won by seven shots ahead of runner-up Gavin Green, and could afford to play the dangerous 18^th hole very conservatively.

Green played the key holes well for the week and was two strokes lower on them than Chawrasia, three-under-par vs. one-under-par. He made total of 23 birdies for the week and tied with Anirban Lahiri for the most of any player during the event. He also made 15 bogeys, one double and one triple to off-set his gains, which was too many to overcome in the end.

New Delhi, India, March 22: Merit leader Jazz Janewattananond hopes to get lucky in his third attempt at tackling the challenging DLF Golf and Country Club when he heads to the Hero Indian Open next week.

The 23-year-old Thai has been riding on a rich vein of form, claiming his third Asian Tour title at the season-opener in Singapore in January and finishing inside the top-10 on six other occasions in his last nine starts on the Asian Tour.

He will spearhead the strong Thai challenge, which will be a major force to be reckoned with, alongside Tour winners Poom Saksansin, Tirawat Kaewsiribandit, Panuphol Pittayarat and veteran Prayad Marksaeng at the US$1.75 million event.

An elite 156-man field from 28 countries, consisting of more than 40 Tour winners and seven Order of Merit champions, will be vying for top honours at the prestigious event, which will once again be promoted by the Indian Golf Union, who joins the Asian Tour and European Tour in co-sanctioning the tournament.

Jazz, who sits atop the current Asian Tour Habitat for Humanity standings, came in tied-34th in his first attempt at the DLF Golf and Country Club when he played the Hero Indian Open in 2017 before missing the halfway cut on the same venue and in the same event last year.

“It’s a tough course, everyone knows that. It’s a beast, very narrow and tough, so I’ll be happy to even just make the cut this time,” said Jazz, whose best finish at the event came in 2016 where he finished tied-15th on a different course.

Placed 78th on the latest Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR), Jazz stands an outside chance to qualify for The Masters next month. The talented Thai, who is currently playing in the Maybank Championship in Malaysia, needs to break into the world’s top-50 following the Hero Indian Open next week.

Alternatively, he could potentially earn an invite to The Masters, just like reigning Order of Merit champion Shubhankar Sharma last year, should he perform well in Malaysia and India these two weeks.

“My game is a lot different coming into these two weeks so I can’t wait to try and conquer the DLF course this time around. I missed the cut last year but I’m still looking forward to a new challenge next week,” added Jazz.

Also relishing the challenge at the Indian showpiece is two-time Asian Tour winner Panuphol, who has been in a relatively consistent form so far this season.

“It is a huge event for me so I am really looking forward to next week. I have been pretty consistent this year, although I admit it’s not my best golf. But I have put in the hard work and I am excited to take on big events like the Hero Indian Open,” said the 26-year-old Panuphol.

Missing out on a top-10 finish last year after making a double-bogey on the 14th hole in the final round, Panuphol will seize his chance at redemption on the notorious par-four that has been ranked as the toughest hole in the tournament for the last two consecutive editions.

“It is an interesting golf course, I would say it’s very challenging but fun to play as well. I would love to play well because it is a huge event. I made a double-bogey on hole 14 and bogeyed the 17th on the final day last year, if not I could have had a top-10 result so hopefully I will do better this time,” added Panuphol, who settled for an eventual tied-16th result.

A host of former winners of the event will also add to the strength of the field. They include Bangladeshi Siddikur Rahman, China’s Liang Wen-Chong, Australia’s David Gleeson and India’s S.S.P. Chawrasia, Anirban Lahiri, Jyoti Randhawa and Arjun Atwal.

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