Norgaard leads in New Delhi as lightning disrupts India Championship

Niklas Norgaard held a one-shot advantage at the DP World India Championship after a lightning interruption left the opening round incomplete in New Delhi. According to BBC Sport's Richard Petrie, the Dane completed a six-under-par 66 at Delhi Golf Club, putting him ahead of Tom McKibbin, Eugenio Chacarra and Thomas Detry, who all finished at five under.

The weather prevented the entire field from completing the same amount of golf. Play stopped shortly after 06:30 BST because of lightning and resumed only after a five-hour interruption, BBC Sport reported. Some players were still partway through their rounds when the day's play ended, while others had yet to start. The leaderboard therefore remained provisional, despite the leading quartet having completed 18 holes.

Norgaard's round gathered momentum dramatically near its conclusion. He recorded an eagle and five birdies across his final seven holes to move past McKibbin, who had reached a share of the lead. The Danish player's full card contained one eagle, six birdies and two bogeys, with that late run taking him to six under and setting the mark for the unfinished field.

McKibbin began on the 10th and made four successive birdies from the 12th through the 15th. A bogey at the par-four 16th interrupted that sequence, but he added birdies on the 18th and third to finish with six gains against a single dropped shot. The 23-year-old's only DP World Tour victory came at the 2023 European Open in Germany. He has played on the LIV Golf tour since January 2025 and has recorded top-six finishes at this season's British Masters and Irish Open.

Rory McIlroy also completed his round, finishing at two under alongside Tommy Fleetwood. After a bogey on his opening hole, the 10th, McIlroy birdied the 13th, 15th, 18th and second before dropping another shot on the third. That left him four strokes behind Norgaard and three behind fellow Northern Irishman McKibbin.

McIlroy entered the tournament third in the Race to Dubai standings, behind Patrick Reed and Chacarra, according to the BBC report. Chacarra's opening five-under round put him in the closest group of challengers to Norgaard, alongside McKibbin and Detry, while the weather left much of the field still needing to establish a first-round score.