2024 Hero Indian Open Preview, Picks & Analysis

Denmark's Rasmus Hojgaard makes his debut at the Hero Indian Open this week alongside a host of golfers looking for success on the DP World Tour’s Asian Swing.

Among those are Yannik Paul, from Germany, who is aiming to go one better than his runner-up finish to compatriot Marcel Siem last year.

Hojgaard, who turned 23 earlier this month, will arrive in India in good form after a strong start to the 2024 Race to Dubai. He enjoyed top ten finishes in three successive starts in Ras Al Khaimah, Bahrain and Qatar, as well as T11 results at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic and Dubai Invitational.

(Image Credit: Kevin Diss Photography)

Paul, who finished runner-up in India on his tournament debut last year, came within a whisker of earning a second DP World Tour title as he finished one stroke behind Siem, despite a bogey-free final round.

He has also enjoyed a strong start to the season, with a tied eighth at the Dubai Invitational and tied fourth at the Ras Al Khaimah Championship.

Also teeing it up in the popular tournament are three-time DP World Tour winner and Ryder Cup Vice Captain Nicolas Colsaerts, 2015 Hero Indian Open winner Anirban Lahiri and 2024 Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit winner Kazuma Kobori.

Jordan Smith is a golfer who many believe should have achieved more in the game. Born in Bath, he didn’t start golf until the age of 12 and played in the 2014 Walker Cup before turning professional later that year. 

He went from a satellite tour to the European Tour in the space of two remarkable years. Smith gained his Challenge Tour playing rights for the 2016 campaign by topping the 2015 PGA EuroPro Tour's Order of Merit, before triumphing twice on the Challenge Tour en route to winning the Rankings the following year.

He won his maiden European Tour title in a play-off against Alex Levy at the 2017 Porsche European Open. Alongside eventual winner Graeme Storm and fellow contender Rory McIlroy, he was also in the mix to win the 2017 BMW SA Open before finishing third in just his third appearance as a full member. He had to wait five years for his second victory, at the 2022 Portugal Masters. There have been glimpses of terrific play since and he often gets himself into contention. A third success is surely overdue.

Guido Migliozzi is another enigma. Still only 27, he enjoyed success on the satellite Alps Tour, winning three times on that circuit between 2017 and 2018. He claimed his first DP World Tour title at the 2019 Magical Kenya Open in his debut season, having secured the 16th card at Qualifying School Final Stage four months earlier. He then defeated Darius van Driel by four strokes in the final of the 2019 Belgian Knockout to collect his second-career win on the DP World Tour Tour and a second win of his rookie campaign.

The Italian produced a sensational final round to win the 2022 Cazoo Open de France at Le Golf National, bridging a three-year gap between victories. He posted the lowest final round in the tournament’s 104-year history, a nine under par 62. 

He is a hugely inconsistent golfer, capable of producing some astonishing golf one moment and some shocking play the next. But he has already proved that when he can string four rounds together he is capable of beating Europe’s finest. This would be a good week to prove that.

Home fans will be hoping that Lahiri can turn back the clock and rediscover the sort of form that won him this tournament way back in 2015 but it is going to be a big ask.

Tournament Winners:

It was won in 2015 by Anirban Lahiri, in 2016 and 2017 by SSP Chawrasia, in 2018 by Matt Wallace, in 2019 by Stephen Gallacher and last year by Marcel Siem. There was no tournament in 2020, 2021 and 2022.

The Course:

DLF Golf and Country Club is a par 72 measuring 7,380 yards. It features two “proper” par fives on the back nine - the 15th is 631 yards and the 18th measures 624 yards. And the 16th is a brute of as par three that stretches to 256 yards.

Form Guide:

Rasmus Hojgaard continued his good early-form season in Singapore and will be keenly aware that another win is overdue. He is a beautiful ball striker with a wonderful temperament.

To Win:

Rasmus Hojgaard. He will again soon.

Each Way:

Richard Mansell. Gifted English golfer

Five to Follow:

Rasmus Hojgaard. Has few weaknesses

Richard Mansell. Becoming very consistent 

Jordan Smith. Should have won more

Ewen Ferguson. A class act

Brandon Stone. Looking for a way back