Fresh from an off-week and a course-record 63 (-9) in her last outing, in-form Sara Kouskova is excited for the “great challenge” of DLF Golf & Country Club at the 2026 Hero Women’s Indian Open
The Czech star finished runner-up at the Aramco Korea Championship two weeks ago carding nine birdies on the final day as Major winner Miyu Yamashita claimed victory.
It was a result which moved Kouskova into the world’s top-100 for first time following an excellent summer and autumn. Since May, the Olympian has racked up two runner-up finishes, five top-10s and a further three top-20s. Included within this was a T12 at the AIG Women’s Open – her best finish at Major – helping Kouskova rise to World No 94.
“I think [the round in Korea] is pretty high up there [as my best ever]” the two-time Ladies European Tour (LET) winner said. “It’s maybe tying this year [as the best] with the final round at the AIG Women’s Open. They were both incredible rounds, but Korea was nice and calm. I was able to play the same golf until the end on the scorecard even though I felt well in Lytham, the score dropped towards the end. Korea is definitely up there.
“I’m not super conscious about the Rolex Rankings. I look at it and throughout my career it’s been important to get to tournaments as an amateur, you have to look at the ranking and see where you are, but recently, it’s been more so when looking in terms of Olympics.
“Getting into the top-100 means a lot. I’ve been dreaming about it from a young age, that’s been one of the benchmarks to do what I always dreamed about doing. We reset our sights a little bit higher. In order to keep working on the game, it’s important to have good motivation.”
Following a busy run of events and an excellent finish in Seoul, Kouskova was able to recharge her batteries ahead of this week’s Hero Women’s Indian Open.
She continued: “I really needed rest and even this season showed me that my brain needs to be rested to perform well and last week was exactly that period of time. It was squeezing that last bit of energy in Korea. We went to Vietnam and enjoyed some beautiful time off, mostly just resting, sleeping and eating good food. We went to Ho Yang one day, that was great, and there’s lots of great coffee in Vietnam too.”
As for this week, the in-form Olympian is one of the headline stars at the Hero Women’s Indian Open staged at the ever-challenging DLF Golf & Country Club. Despite the narrow fairways and undulating greens – a combination which typically produces a higher winning score than average on the LET, Kouskova has a fine record in Delhi finishing T5 in 2023, T13 in 2024 and T41 in 2025.
“It’s India and it’s DLF, so you have to be sharp everywhere in your game,” the 27-year-old said, who fired a final round 65 in 2023. “I’m coming humbled from the last years as well. I’m excited, I love coming back here. It’s always a great challenge. The culture, you can’t put it into words until you experience it. I like it here.
“There’s a lot of wedges into the green if you hit it into the correct spots in the fairways. You have to be sharp off the tee, once you are then you can really deliver with the wedges and you have to putt well to make the birdies. That’s probably going to be the goal here. I played the Pro-Am today and made a couple of birdies, that made me feel more confident about it, but you cannot get too intimidated on the tee box.“
Kouskova has won twice on the LET claiming back-to-back titles in 2024 at the Jabra Ladies Open and Tenerife Women’s Open. Currently eighth on the Order of Merit with two runner-up finishes to her name, the Czech star is determined to go one better before the 2026 season reaches its climax.
“I’m enjoying the game a lot right now, it’s been nice on the golf course,” Kouskova said. “I’ve been feeling good, I’ve been playing well. The game started to click and all the pieces were coming together. It was mostly putting for me that showed the results and reflected the good game from overall the course into the scorecard. I’m excited. I would like to lift another trophy at some point, but if it’s this year or in the next seasons. For us, it’s about the process and that’s what we’re looking at and that’s the only thing we can take care of.”
Kouskova gets under way in Delhi at 11:10 local time on Thursday playing alongside Thailand’s Trichat Cheenglab and Morocco’s Maha Haddioui.
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