Hero Indian Open 2025 Preview, Picks & Analysis

Japan's Keita Nakajima will defend his Hero Indian Open title this week at the DLF Golf & Country Club in New Delhi.

The tournament has attracted a decent field, with entires including Johannes Veerman, Julien Guerrier, Angel Hidalgo, Frederic Lacroix, David Ravetto, Ewen Ferguson, and Guido Migliozzi.

(Image Credit: Kevin Diss Photography)

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Nakajima strolled to victory here 12 months ago. He entered the final round with a four-shot advantage and that was extended to nine as he turned in 33 and threatened to blow the rest of the field away. He could not quite maintain that incredible pace on the back nine but his 17 under par total gave him a comfortable victory over home favourite Veer Ahlawat, Swede Sebastian Soderberg and American Johannes Veerman.

The win in just his 11th start moved Nakajima to 13th in the Race to Dubai. He became the fifth Japanese winner in DP World Tour history and his victory, the seventh by a Japanese player, came as part of a remarkable purple patch for his nation on Tour.

When Ryo Hisatsune won the Open de France in September 2023 just over 40 years after Isao Aoki had become the Tour's first winner from Japan, only Hideki Matsuyama's Masters Tournament win and two World Golf Championships triumphs had come in between.

But Nakajima’s success meant there were multiple Japanese winners in the same season for the first time after Rikuya Hoshino won the Qatar Masters.

Hoshino took the same pathway to the DP World Tour as Nakajima, finishing second in the Japan Golf Tour Organisation Order of Merit in 2022, an Order of Merit which Nakajima won in 2023 with the help of three of his four wins on that tour.

Hisatsune gained a PGA Tour card, but Nakajima missed out. However, the golfer who spent 87 weeks at the top of the World Amateur Golf Rankings is a player of huge potential.

After this victory last year he said: "It feels amazing. I feel like this is the first win of a new professional career. This is my first year playing on the DP World Tour and I'm very proud to have won on the DP World Tour and very honoured to be playing here. The win definitely gives me a lot of confidence in myself and I'm hoping to turn it into even more wins in the future. I was a little nervous and I had a tough back nine but I hit some great shots. Fortunately I had a few strokes in the bank which I can credit back to my strong play on the front nine and the earlier rounds this week, so overall very proud of my performance."

Nakajima will also be joined by Germany’s Marcel Siem, who clinched the championship in 2023, ending a 10-year title drought in emotional circumstances. Siem is a player who wears his heart on his sleeve and never fails to give less than 100%.

Co-sanctioned by the Indian Golf Union (IGU), the Hero Indian Open offers the Indian Tour winner a full card for the following year on the DP World Tour. Last year's runner-up, Veer Ahlawat, won the Indian Order of Merit and is now competing at the DP World Tour.

Alongside Veer, Shubhankar Sharma, a two-time winner on the DP World Tour, will headline the Indian challenge at the event. Joining them will be local boy Manu Gandas, who played in the DP World Tour in 2023.

Another highlight is Indian teenage prodigy Kartik Singh.

Sharma appeared to have the world at his feet when he won the Joburg Open in December 2017 and followed that less than two months later by winning the Maybank Championship. His Maybank victory lifted him into the world top-100 for the first time. 

He also took an early lead in the European Tour’s Race to Dubai, earning a place in the 2018 WGC-Mexico Championship, where he held the lead after the second and third rounds. However, he faltered with a final-round 74 and finished in a tie for ninth place. It was his first start in a PGA Tour event. Two days after the tournament he received an invitation to play in The Masters. 

He played in all four majors that year but missed the cut at all of them other than The Open, where he finished in a tie for 51st place. 

He was named rookie of the year in 2018 but, sadly, that Maybank win is his last on the DP World Tour. He will be hoping to draw some inspiration from playing in front of a home crowd who will be rooting for him to succeed.

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, in 2023 by Marcel Siem and last year by Keita Nakajima. There was no tournament in 2020, 2021 and 2022.

The Course:

DLF Golf & 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.

Prize Money:

The total prize fund is $2.5m, with 3,500 Race to Dubai and 1,000 Ryder Cup points on offer.

How to Watch:

Thursday, March 27, Friday, March 28, Sky Sports Golf, 7.30am; Saturday, March 29, Sky Sports Golf, 8am, Sunday, March 30, Sky Sports Golf, 7.30am.

To Win:

Johannes Veerman. When he is good he is very good

Each Way:

Keita Nakajima. Brilliant short game

Five to Follow:

Johannes Veerman. Can make birdies for fun

Keita Nakajima. Looking for successful defence

Ewen Ferguson. One of Scotland’s finest

Julien Guerrier. Entertaining Frenchman

Kartik Singh. Teenage prodigy