Niall Lyons has a five point win tip for the 2026 Hero Indian Open as his headline selection.
Hero Indian Open
Course - DLF Golf and Country Club Gary Player Couse, Gurgaon, India.
This track plays by many yardages and it's anyone's guess as to how what tees they will use on which days. It can play at 7500+ yards, but also plenty shorter and although driving distance didn't matter much back in 2019, it certainly did in 2023 with three of the top ten in that statistic making the top 5, including the winner Marcel Siem. That has been an outlier really as accuracy has been much more important in general.
Greens in regulation naturally is a stat worth looking to for this track as is scrambling as plenty of greens will be missed. There is trouble everywhere on this course and double bogeys will be plentiful across the course of the week.
Maybe a clue as to the winner could be in the tenacity and demeanour of Marcel Siem who is one who never gives up and gives 100% to every shot.
The mental side of the game is as important here as any as you can't avoid mistakes and the best temperaments need only apply if you want to be in the mix over the weekend here.
Previous Winners / Winning Score:
2025 - E.Chacarra (-4)
2024 - K.Nakajima (-17)
2023 - Marcel Siem (-14)
2019 - Stephen Gallacher (-9)
2018 - Matt Wallace (-11)
5pts WIN - A.Bhatia - 8/1 - General
1.5pts each-way E.Smylie - 45/1 - (1/5 8) Bet365
1pt each-way M.Manassero - 90/1 - (1/5 6) General
Tip 1: Akhshay Bhatia - 5pt Win
8/1 available with multiple bookmakers when publishing.
The nature of this golf course would make you very uneasy about backing any golfers at short prices. Doubles are around every corner and in fact in many cases a lot worse.
Prior to looking at the market I had convinced myself I wouldn't be taking any golfers sub 33/1 let alone less than half that, but here we are, and I'm diving in with Akshay Bhatia. Now a three time winner on the PGA Tour Bhatia has started 2026 in really good form. He ranks 5th on tour this year in strokes gained total and 8th in strokes gained approach. Giving the company he is keeping this is mighty impressive.
3rd at Scottsdale, 6th at pebble Beach and 16th at Riviera all came before his victory at Bayhill. One week later he fared pretty well once again finishing 13th at Sawgrass. This is the type of form even the co favourite could only dream of right now and with Indian parents Bhatia has decided to make the trip to DFL. That is the fly in the ointment here.
The golf course is a great leveller given it is crazy golf for the most part and even I would fancy my chances of taking a hole or 2 off Akshay if we went round my local Adventure Golf outlet. So therein lies the risk that he falls foul of a double or two or potentially even worse.
If we threw this field on a much less volatile golf course then we'd see Bhatia less than half this price. The bookmakers haven't given Bhatia enough respect here despite the challenges with DLF. We have to bet accordingly.
We know what happens, but this is max bet territory. Unfortunately early quotes of 10/1 have disappeared and we'll have to make to with 8/1.
BresBet
Tip 2: Elvis Smylie - 1.5pts Each-Way
45/1 and 8 places available with bet365's extra place market.
We'll swing with a one-two of left handers and include Elvis Smylie.
In a short career to date Smylie has managed a couple of scalps, first of all by beating the likes of Cam Smith and Leishman to win the Australian PGA then once again by winning LIV Riyadh on his first start on that tour just last month.
He also ran PGA Tour player Michael Kim really close last Autum at Saint nom-la-breteche in France where he finished 1 shot off the winning mark. Finishes of 27th, 8th and 28th have followed at LIV events since that victory in Riyadh which is more than respectable and I don't quite think he has had that respect returned by the odds compilers this week.
If this course gets at all fast we know what can happen, just look at the winning score last year. Aussies with their experience of growing up on lightning fast golf courses will be well equipped for that.
Tip 3: Matteo Manassero - 1pt Each-Way
90/1 and 6 Places available with BetMGM & Boyle Sports when publishing.
Finally I'll include Matteo Manassero who should be suited by a return to DLF.
He finished 3rd here back in 2017 having shown an ounce of form in the tournament prior when he finished 20th at the Maybank Championship. In 2024 he finished 5th, three weeks on from his victory at the Jonsson Workwear Open.
This time around he hasn't shown a whole pile of form but things began to look up at the start of the month when he finished 24th in the South African Open Championship. He finished with a 65 there on the final day which was only beaten by two others.
Having shown a real likeness for this course down the years that final round in South Africa may just be pointing towards an improved effort here and I'm happy to take the 90/1 available.
