Veer Ahlawat (second from right) receives his trophy and cheque from Victorious Choice joint MD Suyash Patodia and owner Rahul Mehta (third and fourth from left), Shubhashish Homes chairman J.K. Jajoo (third from right) and PGTI president Kapil Dev at Rambagh Golf Club in Jaipur on Friday. Image courtesy PGTI.
By Rahul Banerji
Five shots off the lead overnight, Veer Ahlawat unleashed a birdie barrage riding a red-hot putter to haul in runaway leader Yuvraj Sandhu and win the Jaipur Open at Rambagh Golf Club on Friday.
Order of Merit winner in 2024, Ahlawat spent much of the year on the DP World Tour and was playing only his fifth event on the PGTI schedule this season.
Tied fourth overnight, Ahlawat matched his tournament low score of 8 under par 62 on Friday for the sensational result at the Rs 1 crore presented by Victorious Choice event powered by Shubhashish Homes, the PGTI said.
The Gurgaon-based Ahlawat (67-62-70-62) totalled 19-under 261 for the week to pick up his fifth title and a winner’s purse of Rs 15 lakh that lifted him from 38th to 18th in the PGTI Order of Merit.
His bogey-free round on Friday also helped him break the record for the lowest winning total at the Rambagh course of 16 under 24 held by Sanjay Kumar at a PGTI event in 2011.
Sandhu (65-63-66-68), the leader by three shots after round three, carded a 68 on the final day with five birdies and three bogeys that saw him finish runner-up on 18 under 262.
Bigger lead
The OoM leader took away Rs 10 lakh to extend his lead in the PGTI Ranking to over Rs 33 lakh with season’s earnings of Rs 1,31,67,100.
Shaurya Bhattacharya returned a 64 to take third place at 15 under 265 and stay second in the season-long race.
Ahlawat returned to play on the PGTI a few weeks back and made an immediate impact with third place finishes in Pune and Digboi, the tour’s last two events.
On Friday, the lanky Ahlawat stole the thunder from the rest of the field by producing his second score of 62 this week.
He was slow off the blocks with his first two birdies coming only on holes six and eight. However, six birdies on the back nine including a crucial 14-footer on 17 and one more on 18 saw him set a clubhouse target of 19 under.
Playing in the final group, Sandhu dropped shots on both the closing par-5s to see his day-long advantage slip away at the very end, having tugged his approach shot on 18 into an awkward spot on the greenside bunker.
His third shot crossed the green into the sand trap on the far side and Sandhu could have still set up a playoff but missed his par putt from about 10 feet to settle for second place.
Swing tweak
Ahlawat, from the DLF Golf & Country Club, said later, “I discovered something new in my swing earlier this week that really helped my driving.
“That was the best aspect of my game through the week. I also hit it close for most part of the final round. The putts didn’t roll in for me on the front nine but on the back nine I holed almost every putt.
“The game-changer for me was the 17th where I played a poor chip shot but still managed to sink a long putt to salvage birdie.
“The experience of playing on the DP World Tour has been very beneficial in terms of the international exposure that I’ve gained. This win now gives me the belief to finish off the season well.”
Sandhu, a five-time winner in the current PGTI season, mixed five birdies with a bogey till the 16th to lead for most part of the day.
However, missed putts on the last two holes for consecutive bogeys that saw his challenge fade away.
Jaipur-based professionals Prakhar Asawa (1 over 281) and Hemendra Choudhary (2 over 282) finished tied 45th and 47th respectively.
Also read: Sandhu opens up three-shot lead on Moving Day at Jaipur Open
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