Harpal Singh Bedi / New Delhi
Amid nerve wrecking tension 26-Year Khalin Joshi held his nerves at the crucial 18th hole to snuff out Bangladesh’s Siddikur Rahman’s challenge by a stroke to become the seventh Indian to win the eighth edition of the Panasonic India Open at Delhi Golf Club on Sunday.
It turned out to be a good USD 400,000 event for the hosts as six Indians finished among top ten.
Overnight tied at the top with Siddikur , Joshi returned a 4 under 68 as against Siddikur’s 3 under 69 but the Bangladeshi’s third round 2-under par 70 killed his valiant bid for the title. He totaled 16 under 272 (67,66,70,69) while the Indian aggregated 17 under par 271 (71,68,64,68).
In the process Joshi equaled the lowest winning score in this tournament set by Shiv Kapur last year while the tournament produced a new champion as no previous winner has been either able to regain or retain it .
Joshi started poorly hitting two bogeys on the first and third but fired a birdie on the 8th and after that there was no looking back for him. He carded five birdies on his way back and that earned him the title and cheque of USD 72,000.
Talking to media persons after the win Joshi said “I am really relieved and really happy It’s a huge monkey off my back. I think I played really well…Kept my nerves and played really solid coming in. The last 4 holes were key for me.” .
“. I don’t know if it was nerves but just poor decision making I guess,starting off with two bogeys. But I still knew that there was a lot of golf to be played. I was playing well and it was just a matter of time. You know the birdie I made on 8th gave me a lot of confidence that I am not very far away and I got to keep sticking to my game plan, I got to keep playing aggressive”.
Asked about his plans, Joshi said ” for me to gain the world ranking points, jumping up in the order of merit in the Asian tour was key. Going forward and playing as good as I am playing. I have four big weeks coming up after this. I am going to go back work on my game and come back fresh for Hong Kong.
Just gives me a sense of satisfaction for sure. I have been close a few times, a bunch of my friends have won. All of my close friends have won. So is now my turn to do well in other tournaments”
Siddikur had three birdies and a bogey, he needed a birdie in the 18th which he could only par. He earned USD 44,000 for his second place finish.
“I played better than I did yesterday actually. Khalin played really well coming down the stretch but I thought I did well too. I am proud of myself that I am able to put up a good fight for the title. It’s my best result after a long time.” Said Siddikur
“I have been trying to get the win to get my card for next year. It’s been on the back of my mind. Although I didn’t win, I put in a better position to finish inside top-60 on the Habitat for Humanity Standings now.
A lot of positives to take from this week and I’m sure it will help me a lot.” he added.
Three round second placer Ajeetesh dropped a stroke on 14 and that ruined his card and chance. He returned 2 under 70 for a total of 14 under 274. He shared the 3rd spot with Thailand’s Suradit Yongcharoenchai .They were richer by USD 22,600 each.
Aman Raj was sole fifth with a score of 13 under 275 and he pocketed USD 16400 .
Debutant Kshitiji Naveed Kaul put up a consistent show and carded 4 under 68 last round. The teenager finished creditable T6 with a score of 12 under 276 with two other. Is first professional outing made him richer by USD 11506.
2016 winner Mukesh Kumar came up with fine four under 68 round .The veteran golfer from Mhow who was overnigh tied 13 , finished with a total of 10 under under278 (71,67,72,68) to finish at T9 .
Defending champion Shiv Kapur and 2016 champion Chirag Kumar both returned par 72 rounds. They both aggregated identical 5 under 283 and slipped seven place to end T 24.
Digvijay Singh, who claimed the second edition of this tournament had, hit one over 73 last round to take the T45 place with a score of one over 287 (72,73,69,73).
Four –time Asian tour winner, Jyoti Randhawa had one over 73 round which took his total score to 3 under 285 .He ended T45 while Jeev Milkha Singh took tied 47 place