Chacarra clinches India title to seize Race to Dubai lead

Eugenio Chacarra captured the DP World India Championship by two strokes, propelling him to the top of the Race to Dubai rankings ahead of Patrick Reed and Rory McIlroy. The Spaniard finished at 21 under par, while Reed and world number two McIlroy fell well behind in the final round.

Chacarra opened the tournament with back‑to‑back 67s at Delhi Golf Club. Play was suspended on Saturday as darkness fell while he was on the 11th hole of his third round. The interruption gave him an extra day of rest, and he completed the round with a nine‑under 63, establishing a five‑stroke cushion. A steady two‑under 70 on Sunday was enough to hold off New Zealand’s Daniel Hillier, who birdied the last hole to apply pressure in the closing moments.

The victory marks Chacarra’s third win of the season, putting him in the company of Jon Rahm and Seve Ballesteros as one of only three Spaniards to lead the DP World Tour’s season‑long standings. “Those two guys are heroes for me as a Spanish golfer,” Chacarra told Sky Sports. “Seve did everything for European and Spanish golf, and then Jon, he’s a player I’ve looked up to since college and the start of my professional career. What he has accomplished is amazing. Hopefully I can put my name on that trophy too. That’s one of the goals.”

Reed, the 2018 Masters champion, had led the Race to Dubai since March after early wins in Qatar and Dubai, but his performance in Delhi dropped him to a tie for 23rd with an eight‑under total. McIlroy, 37, finished tied for 42nd after a two‑over 74 in his final round, a disappointing finish in his second consecutive appearance at the event.

Other notable finishes included Tom McKibbin of Northern Ireland, who posted a 12‑under round to share ninth place with Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre, Belgium’s Thomas Detry, and the United Arab Emirates’ Adrian Otaegui. The leaderboard also featured Daniel Hillier at –19, Alejandro Hidalgo at –15, Adrian Meronk at –13, Joost Luiten, JC Ritchie, Tommy Fleetwood and Diego de Leo, among others.