GURUGRAM, INDIA: Ollie Schniederjans completed a remarkable comeback victory at International Series India presented by DLF, in front of a packed audience at the DLF Golf and Country Club in Gurugram, just outside Delhi.
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.
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 the International Series that brought crowds flocking to Gurugram.
The two-time major winner pulled out all the stops with a seven-under par round of 65, but it was not 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, with only four players finishing under par on the testing Gary Player-designed course.
“It means a lot to me,” said the 31-year-old Schniederjans, ably supported by his brother Ben as caddie this week. “This golf course is very challenging, and back in the day I would have had a hard time out here, so to come out and 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 this 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. He had a five-shot lead at the turn from Kazuki Higa and DeChambeau. That lead became six when he sensationally chipped in for a three on the par-four 13th from a difficult lie to the right of green, where it looked like a bogey would be more likely.
Japan’s Higa (72) had started the final round in second place on four under, but ultimately fell away to T5 on level par after a four-over final round of 76.
The backlog was the result of long delays every day caused by thick fog each morning. 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.
And 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 this week 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 today he has made the ideal start to The International Series Rankings race, with the champion also earning a berth on the roster.
Speaking out about his long 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 all year for a year now. I’ve been able to put everything together, and I knew something like this was coming.”
Sebastian Munoz of Colombia, Spain’s Eugenio Chacarra and Higa finished T5 on level par, ahead of Australian Kevin Yuan and Chase Koepka in eighth place on one over.
The next event on the Asian Tour is the New Zealand Open from Feb. 27 — March 2, which will be followed by the International Series Macau (March 20-23), the second elevated event of 10 that offers a pathway onto the LIV Golf League.
