India's homegrown golfers refused to be pushed out of their own tournament this week. At the DP World India Championship in Delhi, played at the historic Delhi Golf Club through Friday, October 17, 2026, the Indian Golf Premier League's own Shiv Kapur and Karandeep Kochhar battled their way past the halfway cut and into the weekend rounds, finishing exactly on the line at even-par 144.
Both men carded 72 in each of their two rounds, according to NDTVSports.com, which reported the results from the $4 million event. That is no small feat when the field includes six-time Major winner Rory McIlroy and defending champion Tommy Fleetwood. The big foreign names came with their entourages and their rankings. The Indians came with grit.
Who made the cut at the DP World India Championship?
Three IGPL players teed off in Delhi. Two survived. Kapur and Kochhar made it through what NDTVSports.com called a demanding test at Delhi Golf Club. The third, Sachin Baisoya, missed the cut. Baisoya was himself a stand-in, called up because 11-time Asian Tour winner and five-time IGPL champion Gaganjeet Bhullar was sidelined with back pain.
Kapur, a three-time Asian Tour winner who lifted an Asian Tour title at this very course in 2017, leaned on his knowledge of every corner of the layout. He closed his second round on Friday with a birdie when he needed it most. Kochhar, who won an IGPL event in the UAE last year and took the Asian Development Tour's Red Sea Open in 2025, matched him shot for shot with two rounds of 72.
Both sit tied 63rd alongside Saptak Talwar, who posted 71 and 73 to finish at level par. Thirty-six holes remain, and the three of them have every intention of climbing.
Who is leading in Delhi?
Spain's Eugenio Chacarra holds a one-shot halfway lead at 10-under-par 134. He opened with a 67 and followed with another 67 on Friday, despite dropping a shot late in his round. Chacarra likes India; he has one victory and two other top-five finishes in four appearances in the country.
Scotland's Scott Jamieson sits second at nine-under 135. Five players share third at eight-under: Angel Hidalgo, Adrian Meronk, Joost Luiten, Thomas Detry and Joel Girrbach. McIlroy reached six-under 138, four shots off the pace, while Fleetwood sits at five-under. Five of the seven Major champions in the field made the cut.
Why the Indian fightback matters
Yuvraj Sandhu delivered the most dramatic recovery of the week. After opening with a 75, he shot 68 in the second round. He was three-over through his first seven holes, then exploded for seven birdies in his final 10, including four in the last five, to finish at one-under 143. He is tied 53rd alongside Anirban Lahiri, whose last worldwide victory came at Delhi Golf Club in 2015. Lahiri posted rounds of 70 and 73.
Om Prakash Chouhan remains the leading Indian, tied 29th at four-under 140 after rounds of 68 and 72. He had to shake off an early double bogey when he resumed his weather-delayed second round on Saturday morning.
This is what happens when a country builds its own circuit instead of waiting for permission from abroad. The IGPL has given its players real competition against strong domestic and international opposition, and the results are showing. Kapur finished third at the RVR Delhi Blue Bulls event earlier this month. Kochhar was runner-up to Bhullar at the Krishna IGPL Invitational in Hyderabad just last week. Now both have carried that form into a championship against the biggest names in world golf.
There is a lesson here that travels well beyond India. Homegrown leagues, homegrown courses, homegrown champions. When a nation invests in its own talent instead of treating foreign validation as the only prize worth chasing, its players stop being spectators at their own tournaments. It is the same spirit behind stories like