Chacarra to the fore, Lahiri best Indian on opening day

Tournament's biggest draw DeChambeau's day in Gurugram is dotted with birdies, bogeys and an eagle

- Shantanu Srivastava

GURUGRAM: Eugenio Chacarra has had a testy relationship with LIV Tour. Two months ago, he had expressed a desire to excel at the International Series in order to continue playing in the cash-rich league. A month later, the Spaniard, after landing in the "Drop Zone" in the season-ending LIV rankings, was not retained by his team Fireballs GC, which means he is currently out of contract. Then, as recently as two weeks back, he criticised LIV for offering "only money" while positioning himself for a spot in the Majors and on the PGA Tour.

In that context, ending the opening day of the year's first International Series as the clubhouse leader at the daunting DLF Golf and Country Club must have come as a temporary relief for the player who "just wants to play as much as I can" now. The highly-rated 24-year-old started the day at back nine and by the time the play was suspended at 6pm due to poor light, he had carded an impressive 68 (4-under).

Japan's Kazuki Higa also had a 4-under to show although he has three more holes to play.