Steady 70 sees Kochhar through in final round of Gujarat Open

By Rahul Banerji

Karandeep Kochhar carried his rich vein of form from last season to lift the title on a dramatic final day at the Gujarat Open Golf Championship in Ahmedabad on Friday.

Kochhar (64-75-69-70), overnight tied fourth and two off the lead, carded a steady 2-under 70 to sign off with a 10-under 278 and wrap up his fourth title at the Rs. 40 lakh event.

Arjun Prasad (73-65-70-71), T4 overnight with good friend Karandeep, came within striking range of his maiden title before narrowly missing out, the PGTI said.

The Delhi golfer totalled 9-under 279 at the Kalhaar Blues & Greens Golf Club with a final round of 71 to secure his second runner-up finish on the PGTI.

Joint overnight leader Ranjit Singh of Chandigarh had a 74 to take third place on 8-under 280.

Bangalore’s M. Dharma and Kapil Kumar of Delhi, the other two joint overnight leaders shot 75s to end the week in tied fourth place on 7-under 281.

Kochhar, 22, who finished second on the PGTI Order of Merit last year courtesy his two wins, made a slow start with two birdies and two bogeys on the front nine.

The tall Chandigarh golfer kept himself in contention with two birdies from tough spots on the par-5s.

Turning point

The 15^th was the turning point for Kochhar as he chipped in to pick up a shot even as nearest rival and playing partner Arjun Prasad, fresh from a run of four birdies missed a 12-footer for birdie.

Arjun, 23, who has grown up playing alongside Karandeep before they turned professional in 2017, missed a short three-feet putt for par on 18 that could’ve taken the match into a playoff.

Kochhar also had a bogey on the closing hole but held on to his one-shot advantage to emerge winner.

Kochhar said later, “Nothing can be better than starting a season with a win.

“Winning here at Kalhaar proves to me that my hitting is right up there since this course always requires good ball-striking.

“I put in a lot of work with my coach before the season when he asked me to trust my swing. All that work seems to be paying off now.

“After a slow start to the day I knew I was still in it as there were a couple of par-5s on the back nine to capitalise on.

Confidence boost

“Managed to score on those par-5s and added another birdie with a chip-in on 15 that further lifted my confidence.

“On the last hole, I was mentally prepared for a playoff after dropping a bogey but got a little lucky when Arjun too missed his par putt.

“Playing well in the wind on the Asian Tour prior to this week was immensely helpful in preparing me for this event as Kalhaar too offers similar conditions.”

Ranjit Singh, searching for his maiden title, was leading by two shots till the 12^th hole. Four over on the par-4 13^th however saw him slip out of contention.

Gurgaon-based Kartik Sharma produced the day’s of 68 to finish T10 on 2-under 286.

Among the Gujarat-based golfers, arun Parikh and Anshul Patel finished T21 ^{on 1}-over 289. Shravan Desai took 41^st place on 13-over 301.

Also read: Three-way Gujarat Open lead battle promises cliff-hanger finish