Europe on Veer Ahlawat’s sights after domestic dominance

On the second extra hole, Malik hit it over the green and missed the chip-putt for par while Ahlawat made the decisive par to lift the trophy and culminate a season where he has stacked some staggering numbers. The win was Ahlawat’s second this year on the domestic tour, and marked the ninth occasion in 13 PGTI tournaments in 2024 where he had finished in top-10. The reward for Ahlawat is a record-breaking ₹1,56,35,724 in prize money that puts him firmly on top of PGTI’s Order of Merit. Consequently, he has also earned the 2025 card for the DP World Tour (European Tour).

“Coming into the year, one of my goals was to top the PGTI merit list. To do it in such a dominant fashion feels really special,” he said.

Ahlawat opened the season with a fifth-place finish at Kolkata Challenge, but the tone was set at the DP World Tour-co-sanctioned Hero Indian Open on his home course in March where he hit a last-hole eagle in fading light to jump from ninth spot to a three-way tie for second, finishing behind Japan’s Keita Nakajima.

“Initially, I was just looking forward to competing on the Asian Tour but the Indian Open changed my perspective. It was well and truly the turning point for me and I sort of went on a roll after that,” he said.

Ahlawat’s dominant run was built on some crucial technical work under the tutelage of his coach Anitya Chand. “He had a few things going for him. He was always a long hitter, easily the best in India but he didn’t seem to have the power that an elite athlete standing 6’4” should possess,” Chand reckoned. And so, Ahlawat progressively intensified his gym sessions, focussing on Olympic lifts and squats to build power.

“He can fly the ball to 310 yards, and the ball ends up at about 325-330 yards which is truly world standard,” Chand informed.

The duo also worked on Ahlawat’s swing, specifically on his left-to-right fade. “I’ve always played my best when I hit those slight fades off the tee. Whenever I had a bad week, I was struggling to fade the ball. We worked on my ball path and also the position of my right knee. All of that made it easier to hit fades at will,” Ahlawat said.

As the season wore on, Chand and Ahlawat’s efforts began to show. Post August, Ahlawat appeared in nine events and returned a top-10 finish on six occasions, never missing a cut. “As his legs became stronger, it became easier for him to hit everything with a left to right fade. Then, as his control improved, he began aiming his shots better. And if you can do that consistently, you know where the ball is going to end up.”

“All of this gave him the confidence to aim his crucial, pressure shots 4-5 yards left of the flag. When that belief becomes stronger, you start getting more aggressive with it. If you look at his last few tournaments in India, he was always in contention. In each outing, he had at least one round of 5, 6, or 7-under,” Chand added.

Ahlawat will make his European Tour debut at Ras Al Khaimah Championship in the UAE next month (Jan 23-26) and will look to make the most of familiar conditions till the time the tour stays closer home in Bahrain, Qatar, and the UAE. His good friend Manu Gandas and the seasoned OP Chouhan had rather forgettable outings in Europe in the last couple of years, but Ahlawat is backing their learnings to come good.

Then, there’s Shubhankar Sharma to lean on.

“It can get really cold and wet in Europe, so playing with a lot of layers will be a challenge. I have had some discussions with Manu and OP, and I believe the time has come for one of the Indian boys to break out on the European tour. I feel my driving and the experience of playing overseas for a few years puts me in a great position to do that,” he signed off.