Norwegian Espen Kofstad shatters course record at Hero Indian Open, makes weekend bid after shocking turnaround

Espen Kofstad’s 10-under 62 erases DLF course record, overcomes opening round woes to climb leaderboard.

The headlines on day two of the USD 2.25 million Hero Indian Open belonged to Norwegian golfer Espen Kofstad, who shattered the DLF Golf and Country Club course record by two shots, carding a 10-under 62 to climb into contention to make the cut for the weekend rounds at a 1-under total of 143.

The 36-year-old from Oslo bettered the standing course mark of 8-under 64 shared by Shubhankar Sharma (in 2018) and Arjun Puri (in 2022).

Kofstad’s second round 62 followed an opening 9-over 81, making for a 19-shot swing. The run included an eagle 3 on the par-5 eighth hole when his third shot went past a greenside sprinkler head and into the hole. Starting from the back nine of the course, his remarkable round included nine birdies and an eagle, with a bogey on the thirteenth hole.

“I’m still shaking a little bit. I mean today was just unbelievable,” said the Norwegian who is winless from 114 career tour starts. “Everything came off and I’ve pulled so many putts I have no idea how many feet I’ve pulled, but it’s been quite the day.

“I’ve been working a lot on the range lately and I’m feeling like I’ve been coming back from injury and everything’s been feeling horrible for the longest time. And the other day I felt like, okay, I’m starting to move a little bit better. Yesterday, I just didn’t get used to what I was working on and everything went wrong.

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“And then this morning on the range, I was just hitting balls and it felt really nice. And then all of a sudden the birdies just started rolling in when I started playing. You need your fair share of luck as well. I mean, on my 17th, I was trying to put it next to a couple of sprinklers. But I happened to pull it a little bit and it went over the sprinkler head, into the hole for an eagle. So just one of those days.”

Play was called off in the evening during the second round due to lightning in the area with 46 players still to complete their second rounds, who will resume tomorrow. Japan’s Keita Nakajima (65-65) of Japan at 14-under was in the clubhouse lead, two shots ahead of Frenchman Romain Langasque (66-66).

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