Hyderabad’s Mohd Azhar receives his trophy and cheque from Zion Hills Golf County managing director George Menomparampil (right) and Tour CEO Amandeep Johl after winning his maiden title on Friday. Image courtesy DP World PGTI .
By Rahul Banerji
Hyderabad’s Mohd Azhar held his nerve when it mattered most for his maiden professional title in edition two of the Kolar Open at Zion Hills Golf County near Bangalore on Friday.
Chasing event leader Shaurya Bhattacharya all through the final day, Azhar (70-68-70-71) returned a 1 under par 71 even as the former’s bid for a fourth professional title evaporated over the final two holes, the DP World PGTI said.
Azhar, 27, aggregated 9 under 279 to secure a two-shot victory and collect a cheque of Rs 15 lakh that lifted him seven places to 10th in the 2026 DP World PGTI Order of Merit, taking his season’s earnings to Rs 35,14,675.
Chandigarh’s Angad Cheema (73-68-67-73), a four-time winner on the tour, and Delhi’s Bhattacharya (68-67-71-75), a three-time winner, were tied for second on 7 under 281.
Cheema recorded his second runner-up finish of the season, having also shared second place at the Boulders Classic in April.
Bhattacharya began the final round with a two-shot lead and remained in control until virtually the final rites of the Rs 1 crore tournament.
Fatal lapses
However, consecutive double bogeys on holes 17 and 18 proved costly, leaving him two shots behind the rock steady Azhar who dropped two shots early in his round but played faultless golf thereafter.
It was heartbreak yet again at Zion Hills for Bhattacharya, who also finished runner-up in the inaugural edition last year, two shots behind Kshitij Naveed Kaul.
Azhar, who turned professional in 2020, began the final round two shots behind Bhattacharya.
He stayed patient through testing spells of wind and rain and created enough opportunities to move ahead as the tournament reached its decisive stage.
“Today was very good and I’m extremely happy with the way I played,” said Azhar. “The conditions were difficult with the wind and rain, but I stayed patient and focused on finding greens in regulation.”
Azhar reached the par-five second in two shots and made a comfortable two-putt for birdie before a tap-in gain on the fourth.
Key moment
One of the biggest moments of his round arrived on the 12th, where he holed a putt from around 35 feet for birdie.
“I created several birdie opportunities and managed to convert enough of them,” the Hyderabad golfer said.
“The long putt on 12 was one of the highlights. On the back nine, I tried to play solidly and make pars whenever a birdie opportunity was not available.”
The victory completed a significant step forward for Azhar, whose previous best result on the DP World PGTI was a tied-second finish at the Boulders Classic in April.
His breakthrough also came at an ideal time, with the tour set to travel to his hometown in the coming weeks.
Confidence boost
“This win gives me a lot of confidence for the upcoming events,” Azhar said.
“I’m particularly excited about returning to Hyderabad, where both the Hyderabad Golf Association and Vooty Golf County feel like home courses to me.”
Gurgaon’s Veer Ahlawat (71-71-69-71), the 2024 DP World PGTI Rankings champion, was solo fourth on 6 under 282.
Defending champion \Kaul (73-75-66-69) of Delhi and Badal Hossain (69-72-69-73) shared fifth place at 5 under 283.
Order of Merit leader Saptak Talwar (72-71-70-74), who spent the summer competing on the HotelPlanner Tour, finished 10th at 1 under 287 that was worth Rs 2 lakh to strengthen his position with season’s earnings of Rs 86,33,234.
Also read: Bhattacharya takes two-shot lead into final round of Kolar Open
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