ASIAN GOLF INDUSTRY FEDERATION

DeChambeau Denied by Injury-Free Ollie

Ollie Schniederjans DLF India
Ollie Schniederjans with the International Series India presented by DLF trophy. Picture by Paul Lakatos/Asian Tour.

Delhi, India: Ollie Schniederjans completed a fairytale comeback victory in the US$2 million International Series India presented by DLF.

The American, lifted by an outrageous chip-in for birdie on 13, fired a three-under-par 69 for a four-round aggregate of 10-under at DLF Golf and Country Club.

It gave him a surprise four-shot victory over reigning US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau, his nearest challenger in the opening event of the year on 2025 The International Series that brought crowds flocking to Gurugram.

The two-time Major winner pulled out all the stops with a closing seven-under 65, but it wasn’t enough to cancel out an eight-shot gap that Schniederjans had built up over him going into the final round, and he finished on six-under for the week.

Abraham Ancer of Fireballs GC finished joint third on two-under after a level-par final round, alongside reigning International Series Rankings champion Joaquin Niemann. Only four players finished under par on the testing Gary Player-designed course.

“It means a lot to me,” said 31-year-old Schniederjans, ably supported by his middle brother Ben as caddie. “This golf course is very challenging. Back in the day I would have had a hard time out here. To shoot those scores now, with everything I have been through, my game is a lot better than it ever was. This was proof this week.”

The third round had to be completed in the morning, and Schniederjans got off to a great start as he carved out a three-shot lead on seven-under. The field had nine holes to finish after a first shotgun start on Saturday afternoon, and the American birdied his first three holes – 10, 11 and 12 – en route to a 69.

Japan’s Kazuki Higa (72) started the final round in second place on four-under, but dropped to tied fifth on level par after signing off with a four-over 76.

The backlog was the result of long delays every day caused by thick morning fog. In order to complete 72 holes, the organisers switched to shotgun starts for rounds three and four, with players staying in the same pairings.

They started round four immediately after completion of round three and Schniederjans did not let up in pursuit of a morale-boosting victory, with Australian Greg Norman walking the course and watching intently.

Schniederjans had a five-shot lead at the turn from Higa and DeChambeau. That lead became six when he chipped-in for a birdie on the par-four 13th from a difficult lie to the right of green, where it looked like a bogey would be more likely.

Despite a bogey on 17, the American safely made par on 18 to see things out, narrowly missing out on a birdie chip in from the fringe of the green.

Schniederjans’ win is a remarkable one. He had replacement surgery on both hips in 2022 and was out of the game for well over a year.

It was his final attempt to fix a whole host of injury issues which had derailed the career of a player who was ranked the world’s top amateur in 2014 for 41 consecutive weeks. He also won on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2016, the year after turning professional.

Schniederjans was playing in India by virtue of finishing fourth at last year’s LIV Golf Promotions event, with the top-10 players earning playing rights for The International Series.

He just missed out on winning the event in Saudi, which brings a passage onto the LIV Golf League, but having triumphed at DLF he has made the ideal start to The International Series Rankings race, with the champion also earning a berth on the roster.

Speaking about his often-frustrating journey back to victory, he said: “It was a long process. It took a lot of patience. I did a lot to change my body and swing, and had to learn a lot through that process.

“There were setbacks that took me years to get to this point. This year has been good, I have been able to be on the course for a year now. I’ve been able to put everything together, and I knew something like this was coming.”

DeChambeau did all he could to catch his compatriot.

“I scored really well and made a lot of great putts. I’m pleased with how I performed and played but not pleased with how I struck the ball. I have been hitting it so well. I played a Break 50 (Bryson’s YouTube show) and was hitting it so well. I don’t know what happened. I have to figure it out for LIV Golf Riyadh this coming week.”

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