By Rahul Banerji
Play-off finishes determined winners on both the PGA Tour and European Tour even as Anirban Lahiri and Shubhankar Sharma brought in season-best finishes on Sunday.
At the Bermuda Championship, Lahiri finished tied for 11th alongside
Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat, five shots behind winner Brian Gay..
For his part, Sharma took a share of 14th place at the Cyprus Open.
In both events, play-offs were needed to determine the eventual winner.
At the Port Royal Golf Course in Bermuda, 48-year-old Brian Gay outlasted fellow-American Wyndham Clark for his first title in seven years.
And in Cyprus, Englishman Callum Shinkwin earned a breakthrough victory on the Aphrodite Hills course, beating back Finland’s Kalle Samooja.
Birdie run
Lahiri (68-70-69-67) had six birdies against two bogeys on Sunday in a week he tied first for most birdies made during the tournament.
It also maintained his solid start to the new 2020-21 PGA Tour season that had two top-40s and a tied sixth finish in three previous starts. He has now climbed to 31st in the latest FedEx Cup rankings.
“Happy with the consistency this week,” the 33-year-old told pgatour.com.
“I made too many small errors on and around the greens that added up to hurt me enough.
“Disappointed not to finish in the top-10,” said Lahiri, now in his sixth straight PGA Tour season.
Strong start
Starting the final round four behind the leaders, Lahiri had birdies on the second, fourth and seventh holes but dropped a shot on nine.
The Florida-based Indian then made par over the next five holes before closing with three birdies in his last four holes which included a second bogey of the round on hole 16.
“I feel like the game is getting more rounded with every passing week.
“The biggest challenge and disappointment is not being able to play events and as of now, I’m not in to any of the remaining events on the schedule (for this year).
“I may try to Monday qualify for Sea Island (the RSM Classic in three weeks’ time).”
Kiradech had his best outing in a year with a final round 3-under 68, which included four birdies and a lone bogey in a 10-under 274.
Gay (70-68-67-64) took his first win since 2013 and at 48, became the oldest titelist since Davis Love III, who was 51 when he won the 2015 Wyndham Championship.
He is also the third winner in his forties this season behind Stewart Cink and Sergio Garcia.
Sharma rallies strongly
In Cyprus, Shubhankar Sharma returned a 13-under total of 271 (67-66-69-69) to finish seven shots behind Shinkwin and Samooja.
It was his best finish since returning to the European Tour at the Irish Open (T64) last month.
Sharma’s other results were a tied 26th at the Scottish Open, T48 at the BMW PGA Championship and a shared 37th place at the Scottish Championship.
At the head of the field, Shinkwin beat Samooja in a play-off for his first European Tour title on a dramatic final day.
Both had their chances, Shinkwin birdieing the 17th hole sitting two behind the Finn and pulling off an incredible eagle save on the last with a 54-foot putt.
Playing in the final group, Samooja also had an eagle chance from almost exactly the same spot and a two putt birdie handed him a closing 64 and extra holes, which he lost in the first play-off.
Also read: Learnt some tough lessons, says Lahiri on Bermuda C’ships eve
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