Ben Griffin and Brian Harman are two of the biggest names in the field for this week’s DP World Tour Championship.
The American duo is also joined by European Ryder Cup stars Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood, Shane Lowry, and Viktor Hovland.
It promises to be an exciting event at the Delhi Golf Club, which will provide a different test from most modern professional tournaments.
Griffin and Harman have now explained why the golf course in India is unlike anything on the PGA Tour nowadays.
Ben Griffin and Brian Harman agree on DP World Tour India Championship course
Ben Griffin detailed the key differences between the Delhi GC and PGA Tour golf courses in his press conference before the event.
There is so much trouble around the course that most players will try to keep the ball in the fairway by not hitting driver off the tee.
Even though it’s a short course, this will then leave the players with mid- to long-irons into the green.
This will provide the players with a completely different challenge to the driver and wedge approach often seen on the PGA Tour.
“Yeah, it’s much different golf than what we typically play on the PGA Tour, especially nowadays in modern golf, where we are playing bigger golf courses, longer golf courses,” Griffin said.
“This is a more difficult challenge that we don’t see that often on the PGA Tour, and we don’t play too many courses where you’re not hitting very many drivers. I think Brian said he hit maybe three or four or five today. Other players in the field are hitting as little as zero.
“It’s a unique challenge, and it challenges your irons more than anything. I think for my specific game, I feel like this year, I’ve done a really good job with my driver. And this week I’m not necessarily going to be hitting it very much, if at all. And it’s going to be challenging trying to flight irons down and trying to keep it in play a little bit more and keep it in the fairway and the greens.
“It’s not the longest golf course, but there are going to be maybe even more mid-irons or long irons than we hit in a typical PGA Tour event, which is a longer course, because guys are going to be hitting drivers and having short irons in. Now we’re hitting 1-irons, but we’ll still have mid-irons into the green. It’s a unique challenge.
“Actually, I like courses like this a lot more because you just hit a variety of different clubs more often, whereas in America, we’re so used to hitting maybe drivers and wedges a lot more. It’s going to be interesting. It’s something I haven’t competed in for quite a while, to be honest with you. Excited for it.”
Brian Harman fully agreed with Griffin’s thoughts, while also comparing Delhi GC to links courses found in Great Britain and Ireland.
“Yeah, it’s certainly a different challenge than what we’re accustomed to, but not totally dissimilar from playing links golf from time to time,” Harman added.
“Links golf, especially when the ball starts running, a lot of irons off the tee. I take a lot of correlation from here to there, and I just try to plot my way around that way.”
Ben Griffin and Brian Harman’s key statistics before the DP World Tour India Championship
Brian Harman is known for his great iron play, so you might expect his game to suit Delhi GC perfectly.
However, his statistics on the PGA Tour this season are not particularly impressive. The only major positive is that his driving is more accurate than most.
| Driving Accuracy | Strokes Gained: Approach | Approaches from >100 yards | Greens in Regulation Percentage | Strokes Gained: Putting | |
| Ben Griffin | 58.78% | 0.466 | 34′ 11” | 68.94% | 0.407 |
| Brian Harman | 63.14% | 0.047 | 33′ 8” | 65.20% | 0.064 |
Ben Griffin’s season stats suggest that he is actually in line for a better performance at the DP World Tour India Championship.
The 29-year-old has been excellent in strokes gained approach and putting, which should play significant roles in Delhi.
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