American Ollie Schniederjans won the International Series India event on Sunday. He overcame a three-shot deficit with four holes remaining in his third round to win by four shots over Bryson DeChambeau and eight shots over Joaquin Niemann and Abraham Ancer after shooting a final-round 69 at DFL G. & C.C. outside of Delhi to finish at 10-under 278. Sounds simple enough, until you unpack all that’s happened to the 31-year-old in recent years.
Kevin Yuan was the best Australian at T-8 (one-over), while Travis Smyth was a shot further back at T-10.
If the name Schniederjans doesn’t ring a bell, here is a refresher: we’re talking about a former All-American golfer at Georgia Tech. No. 1 ranked amateur for 41 weeks in 2014-15, right before DeChambeau was winning NCAA titles and US Amateur trophies. Matinee idol looks with a head of hair the envy of any male older than 30. Winner on Korn Ferry Tour is his year after turning pro, propelling him to three seasons on the PGA Tour. The next can’t-miss star.
Except sometimes can’t-misses actually do. Schniederjans’ journey took a detour when his body got its way over his heart and mind. Injuries led to poor play led to a lost tour card led to the difficult decision of having double hip replacement surgery in 2022, each done two months apart. He finally returned to play in March 2023, but the return required more patience.
There were signs of progress, however, last year—three top-25 finishes in Korn Ferry Tour events. With no full status on any tour, he entered the LIV Golf Promotions event last December, where a T-5 finish didn’t earn him a spot on the LIV Golf League, but did get him status into the Asian Tour’s International Series events.
That set up things in India. Morning fog hampered the event on the weekend, forcing players to complete their third rounds Sunday and quickly go back out to race daylight and finish the event. Leading at the start of the final round, Schniederjans held steady, aided by solid play—only three golfers finished under par for the week—and a little luck in the form of this amazing birdie chip-in on the 13th hole.
https://twitter.com/asiantourgolf/status/1886006839340642395
“It was a long process, it took a lot of patience,” Schniederjans said afterward. “I did a lot to change my body and swing, and had to learn a lot through that process.”
Schniederjans’ enjoyed his first win in nearly eight years with his brother Ben, who caddied for him in his Asian Tour debut.
“There were setbacks that took me years to get to this point,” Schniederjans said. “This year has been good, I have been able to be on the course all year for a year now. I’ve been able to put everything together, and I knew something like this was coming.”
Suffice it to say, the possibility of a return was something his peers could appreciate.
“Ollie is a great, incredible golfer, he beat my butt in college numerous times,” DeChambeau said on Sunday. “So it was really, really impressive to see how well he’s playing, and I wish I could have given him a run for my money, but I was not prepared. Not as prepared as I could have been, and unfortunately, I didn’t give him a run. But he’s a well-deserved champion, and he deserves every, every bit of the accolades that comes with it.”
