India, Oct. 15 -- If the 2025 edition was a precursor, here comes the real deal. Headlined by six-time Major winner Rory McIlroy, defending champion Tommy Fleetwood, current PGA Championship winner Aaron Rai, reigning Open champion Ryan Fox, and 2019 Open winner Shane Lowry, the second edition of the $4 million DP World India Championship has attracted the shining stars of golf to the lush and iconic Delhi Golf Club (DGC). While the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) is chuffed at the star cast and is upbeat about the domino effect an event of such magnitude will likely have on the sport, it's the here and now that one is more bothered about. The last time an Indian won an event on the European Tour - now known as DP World Tour- was in 2018 when Gaganjeet Bhullar won the tri-sanctioned Fiji International. That win came just six months after Shubhankar Sharma won the Maybank Championship in Kuala Lumpur, raising hopes of consistent Indian results. Eight years on, while Indian pros have been making the right noises at home, overseas wins have dried up. At the inaugural DP World India Championship, only five of the 26 Indians in the field made the cut with Shiv Kapur's T32 the best Indian finish. This time, there are 27 Indians in the fray, most of them having a fair degree of familiarity with the tough course. While Gaganjeet Bhullar's late withdrawal to a back injury is a blow - he is replaced by Sachin Baisoya - there's enough experience in the ranks. PGTI CEO and DGC captain Amandeep Johl has set a realistic expectation - half of the Indian entries making the cut. While that will soon be put to test, the likes of Anirban Lahiri and Shubhankar Sharma are busy re-acquainting themselves with a course they have grown up on. "We have a conveyer belt of some really exceptional young golfers. Yes, we've had a few lean years and there haven't been any international wins on any tours, but that doesn't mean we don't have the talent. There is enough to work with. I believe that the golf has grown. There has been more professional opportunities now," Lahiri said. The 39-year-old isn't off the mark. In Saptak Talwar, Veer Ahlawat, Yuvraj Sandhu, Viraj Madappa and Manu Gandas - all will be in action - India did have a number of youngsters ready to ride the momentum that Shubhankar's 2018 win in Europe generated. The leaderboards though have been narrating a different tale. "At the end of the day, it's about your mindset and how you prepare for the challenges you'll face abroad. I don't think Indian golf courses, and the set-ups that a lot of Indian tours are playing, best prepare you for what you face abroad. It was the same during my time. You have to adapt, be agile, be able to think and prepare for, okay, what am I going to face when I play the DP World Tour or whichever tour. So, it comes down to how you train and how your support team is managing that," Lahiri, who will play after a seven-week break, said. "There is a lot of growth that needs to happen in that area. Once you start taking a little more holistic approach, you'll see better results. You don't want them to be flashes in the pan. You want it to be something structured where you know these kids are going to grow. I think that's happening. Maybe not as fast as we need to." For Shubhankar, the struggle has spilled over to a second season. The 30-year-old has missed cuts in 13 of the 22 events he has played on the DP World Tour, thanks largely to him experimenting with his clubs. "That backfired because I didn't find what I needed, and I remember last year at this time I was saying the same thing," Shubhankar, who is coming off a win at the Kapil Dev Invitational last week, said. "I couldn't find something consistent throughout. The solution has been just to go back to the basics of finding clubs, which I did in the middle of the year. I went back to old clubs with some minor adjustments, like strengthening the shaft." On the course and conditions, the seasoned pros vouched for DGC's traditional challenges - tight fairways, thick roughs, and the need to be accurate off the tee....