Alex Fitzpatrick’s breakthrough week at the Hero Indian Open was as much about patience as it was about progression.
The Englishman made 5 birdies in a 7 hole stretch in the middle of the final round and was solid down the treacherous closing holes while the leader up to hole 14, defending champion Chacarra, bogeyed 15, 16 & 17, so Alex teed off 18 holding a comfortable 4 stroke lead and had the luxury of playing safe for a double bogey and a two-stroke margin.
Fitzpatrick’s final scores read 70-68-72-69 (9-under 279) for his first DP World Tour title.
Fitzpatrick had earned his way onto the DP World Tour through the Challenge Tour (HotelPlanner Tour) in 2024 and spent the past year knocking on the door.
The numbers behind the rise
Fitzpatrick’s 2026 season reflects a sharp statistical leap from last year:
- Driving Accuracy: 133rd → 14th
- Greens in Regulation (GIR): 96th → 6th
- Putts per GIR: 101st → 52nd
The gains are across the board—off the tee, hitting greens, and on the putting surfaces indicating a player who has tightened every part of his game, not just found a hot week.
A family moment
The win also completed a rare sibling milestone. Just a week after brother Matt Fitzpatrick (2022 US Open champion) won on the PGA Tour, Alex followed with victory on the DP World Tour—making them the first brothers to win in successive weeks across the two tours.
For a player who has long spoken about chasing his brother’s standards, this felt like an arrival.
“I idolize him… hopefully we can keep doing well,” Fitzpatrick said after the win.
Indians disappoint
Among the home contingent, disappointingly only three Indian players managed to survive the 36-hole cut, the lowest number in the tournament’s long history .
The big names recognised by Indian fans were not in the field for various reasons – Jeev Milkha Singh, Jyoti Randhawa, Arjun Atwal, Anirban Lahiri, Gaganjeet Bhullar, Shiv Kapur, SSP Chowrasia and Ajeetesh Sandhu – were all missing from the national open.
The only bright takeaway was that an unknown 18-year-old pro from Bangalore Manoj S made the cut and finished 43rd. He was tied with 2023 PGTI No 1 Om Prakash Chouhan Kshitij Naveed Kaul was the third Indian to make the cut, finishing 64th.
Perhaps it was the greens putting at a speed of 13 feet which was alien to the Indians – they don’t play DLF GC any other week of the year and certainly no other course which approaches the kind of conditions they experienced this week. So the course conditions are not in their favour at all. The other is lack of international exposure – the Indians who play overseas are not able to play the Hero Indian Open since the invites go on the basis of domestic PGTI rankings only.
Whether any course correction is possible for Indian men’s golf remains to be seen so that this worst ever performance by the Indians at the Indian Open does not repeat again in 2027.
Bhatia’s costly error
It was a week to forget for Hero brand ambassador, three-time PGA Tour winner and World no 22 Akshay Bhatia who was the star attraction for the week.
From his very first swing, the round unraveled. Starting on the par-4 10th, Bhatia hit his opening drive out of bounds, leading to a double bogey. Though he responded with a birdie on the next, bogeys on the 13th and 14th left him three over through five holes.
A killer blow came on the par-5 15th.
Bhatia played a wrong ball on his second shot—only realizing the mistake after making the swing. Under Rule 6.3c, he was handed a two-shot penalty, resulting in a triple-bogey 8. Crucially, he corrected the error before teeing off on the next hole, avoiding disqualification but the damage was done – he shot 44 for his opening 9 holes, an unimaginable 8 over par !
The last time Bhatia shot 44 for 9 holes was probably when he was 10 or 12 years old !
He eventually signed for a first round of 77 after going -3 on his second nine holes but needing to shoot -1 on Day 2, he missed a four foot putt on the 36th hole to shoot an even par 72 and miss the cut by one stroke.
