By Rahul Banerji
Aman Raj waited till the very last before sealing his grip on the Rs 1 crore Bhawani Singh Rathore presents Jaipur Open 2023 at Rambagh Golf Club on Saturday.
On a day that saw fortunes fluctuate constantly, the 28-year-old from Patna made a quality chip-putt on the 72nd hole to cap an error-free round of 4-under 66 for his fourth career win.
The final margin for Aman (65-66-64-66) was one shot on 19-under 261. It brought up his third win of the year and a second at the Jaipur Open after 2018, the PGTI said.
Greater Noida’s Saptak Talwar (64-65-71-62) and Sunhit Bishnoi (65-67-68-62) of Gurgaon were tied for second place on 18-under 262 after Talwar had briefly led the field.
The two, playing in the same flight posted matching 8-under 62s, the best rounds of the tournament, on the day.
The winner’s cheque of Rs 15 lakh lifted Aman Raj from fourth to second in the Tata Steel PGTI Ranking and kept alive his hopes of finishing on top for the season.
Late surge
Aman now has season’s earnings of Rs 84,81,745 and trails Order of Merit leader Om Prakash Chouhan by around Rs 29 lakh with only the year-end Rs 3 crore Tata Steel Tour Championship in Jamshedpur next week to go.
Overnight leader by two shots, Raj started slowly and missed a few birdie opportunities from short range on the greens while picking up one shot on the front nine.
More importantly, Aman stayed calm under mounting pressure from the chasing pack and kept his round going with crucial par saves from eight feet on the second and 13th holes and a quality chip-in on 11.
By then he had already been overtaken, first by Dhruv Sheoran who then ran out of steam after a fine opening nine holes, and Talwar even as Bishnoi kept coming at the leaders.
Gurgaon golfer Sheoran had gone past Raj by the time he made the turn with a string of five birdies on the front nine but a disastrous back nine that saw him drop three shots including two missed putts from short range, scuppered his chances.
Aman began his surge towards the title with his second chip-in of the day on 14 that fetched a birdie. He then saw it home with two more successively on the final two holes including an impressive chip on to set up a five-foot putt for the win.
Crucial putts
Aman, who was bogey-free in his last two rounds, said, “With the birdies not coming my way early on, I tried to make pars to keep the momentum going.
“I made some clutch putts and par saves along with way, especially the chip-in on 11. With the gains on 14 and 17 including a good recovery from the rough, I knew I needed a birdie for the win.
“After the practice round I was confident of having a good week here. To win you need a few things to favour you and I felt that happened in round three.
“It’s turning out to be a great season and I’m now looking forward to closing it on a high at the Tour Championship next week.”
Talwar and Bishnoi, both lying five off the lead in fourth after round three, ran Aman close with their terrific rounds of 62 on Saturday. The duo gained two places to finish tied second.
Tour rookie Talwar, who was 6 under through the first 12 holes, ended the day with an eagle, seven birdies and a bogey to register a career-best joint runner-up finish on the PGTI.
Sunhit mixed nine birdies with a bogey in his final round. He tapped-in for birdies on the last three holes.
Chandigarh’s Akshay Sharma (64) took fourth place on 17-under 263.
Sheoran (68), lying overnight second, ended fifth on 15 under 265 after his unfortunate back nine but showed he has enough in the bag to test the best.
Final top five
261: Aman Raj (65-66-64-66)
262: Saptak Talwar (64-65-71-62); Sunhit Bishnoi (65-67-68-62)
263: Akshay Sharma (63-68-68-64)
265: Dhruv Sheoran (65-68-64-68)
Also read: Aman Raj builds a two-shot lead on Moving Day at Jaipur Open
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