Spaniard Eugenio Chacarra did not let go of the grip he had on the Lotus Trophy at the India Championship and secured his third victory of a remarkable 2026 season. He now leads the Race to Dubai Rankings taking over Patrick Reed and Rory McIlroy with one more event left in the regular season followed by Play-off events in Abu Dhabi and Dubai next month.

Gutsy Victory Amidst Injury

Chacarra finished a marathon day at the Delhi Golf Club at the USD 4 million tournament playing 25 holes with a broken toe he had carried into the week. He played his seven holes remaining from the third round in five under with three birdies and a closing eagle. That put him five-shot ahead in the final round, which began soon after the third round had ended, according to a release.

Chacarra’s rounds of 67-67-63-70 gave him a 21-under total, one short of Tommy Fleetwood’s aggregate in 2025. Overall, he had 24 birdies and one eagle against five bogeys.

DP World Extends Partnership to 2035

Even as a new champion at the India Championship was being crowned, there was further cheer for Indian golf fans as the Global smart logistics provider DP World confirmed it would continue its partnership with the DP World India Championship through to 2035. This aligns with DP World’s broader support of the DP World Tour after a new partnership agreement, the largest in the Tour’s history, was announced last year, extending DP World’s designation as Title Partner and Official Logistics Partner until 2035.

The original Tour title partnership agreement, which started in 2022 and saw the European Tour renamed as the DP World Tour, has helped make golf more inclusive and better connected than ever before.

Tense Final Round

Two shots behind Chacarra was New Zealand's Daniel Hillier (67), finishing second on 19-under. A brilliant charge on the back nine by Hillier gave Chacarra a scare, cutting what had once been a six-shot lead down to two late on to pile on the pressure - but Chacarra held on and won the crown.

An elated Chacarra said: "It's great, after all the hard work I came close in the last couple of weeks and I wanted to get one quickly to get up on the rankings, and I played really good.” He was third and second in his last two starts in France and Spain.

"The last round was tough. It's really tiring, waking up three days in a row at 4am. My body wasn't there, I didn't feel good. It's hard to have a big lead, you don't really want to push but you want to with guys making birdies.”

Chacarra fought off both his toe injury and the extremely strong chasing pack to overtake long-time leader Patrick Reed in the standings. In early 2025, Chacarra won his first Tour title at the Hero Indian Open triumph at nearby DLF Golf and Country Club, where he finished runner-up this year. This season, after wins at the KLM Open and DS Automobiles 83° Open d’Italia in June, Chacarra added the India Championship to make it three wins in 2026 and four overall on the Tour.

Commanding Lead into Final Day

Chacarra took a five-shot lead into the final round after signing for a spectacular bogey-free 63 with seven birdies and a closing eagle when the third round was finally completed on Sunday morning following a weather-disrupted start to the tournament.

He kept his injured foot on the gas as he began his final round, kicking things off with a birdie at the first before holing from 17 feet at the third to move six shots clear of the chasing pack.

Chacarra's first bogey of the weekend came at the sixth as his par putt horseshoed out but he took a four-shot lead into the back nine after making an outstanding par save on the ninth to keep playing partner Angel Hidalgo at bay as a match play situation developed. He saved par from 20 feet to pile the pressure on Hidalgo's birdie putt, which he was unable to make and that kept Chacarra four clear on 20 under.

Holding Off a Charging Hillier

Chacarra converted that momentum into a birdie at the 11th, which came off a 17-foot putt. He parred the next two holes before narrowly missing his 13-foot birdie try at the 14th to sit three ahead of a charging Hillier with four holes remaining.

And with Hillier birdieing the 18th up ahead to cut Chacarra's lead to two strokes, the Spaniard chose a great time to produce a sensational recovery shot at the 16th to somehow save par, having found trouble off the tee. The 16th was where he had suffered bogeys in the first and second rounds. After parring the 17th, Chacarra finished his round with a par to secure a two-shot victory.

Ryder Cup Aspirations

Chacarra said, "I'm really proud of my short game and how I grinded and stayed patient. "I know what I'm capable of. I was one of the best amateurs in the world and I wanted to be one of the best professional players in the world. I work really hard and I've got a great team surrounding me."

Speaking about his Ryder Cup prospects ahead of next year's showpiece, Chacarra added: "I told Luke (Donald, European Captain) back in the day I want to be in that team by not just a pick. I want to get one of those six spots so that's one of the goals we have as a team. I'm working really hard for it. "I just want to keep getting better and keep winning", he added. (ANI)