Chandigarh’s Angad Cheema on his way to ending an 11-year title wait, at the Vizag Open on Saturday. Image courtesy PGTI.
By Rahul Banerji
Angad Cheema was finally rewarded for a consistent season with victory at the Rs 1 crore Vizag Open at East Point Golf Club on Saturday to end an 11-year title.
The Chandigarh golfer was, however, made to work for the win which came after a pulsating playoff against Aman Raj of Patna who put in a late charge to haul in the overnight leader.
Cheema (69-61-70-68), ahead by three shots at the start carded a 3 under par 68 in the final round for a tournament total of 16 under 268, the PGTI said.
With six top-10s in the season including two runner-up finishes, Cheema found he had company atop the leaderboard after a flurry of birdies by Aman Raj (66-68-69-65) towards the end of the round.
Aman’s 6 under 65 was the day’s card and drew him level with Cheema to take the matter into a playoff.
Cheema converted an eight-foot birdie putt to win the shootout and pick up the winner’s cheque of Rs 15 lakh that pushed him up from fourth to third place in the Tata Steel PGTI Ranking.
Aryan Roopa Anand (67) of Bangalore and Gurgaon’s Kartik Sharma (70) finished a distant tied third on 10 under 274.
Dramatic end
On a dramatic final day, the 34-year-old Cheema, runner-up last week in Hyderabad, maintained his three-stroke lead till the 16th hole thanks to excellent putting as four of his five birdie conversions came from 12 to 20 feet. He dropped only one stroke on this stretch.
The twist came when Cheema found the bunker and made bogey on 18 even as Aman Raj rallied with three birdies in the last four holes to draw level.
With Aman holding momentum, the match headed into a playoff even as a light drizzle added to the drama.
The lanky Angad then seized the initiative on the first playoff hole with an exceptional tee shot and approach to set up an eight-footer for victory.
While Cheema nailed his birdie putt, Aman missed his from 20 feet to hand the former his third professional win, two on the PGTI and one on the PGTI Feeder Tour.
Cheema said, “It’s a great relief and a monkey off my back to finally win after because I was close to victory on so many occasions in recent years but had not finished it. I’m now looking forward to bigger things.
“My approach this season and in particular today was just to try and keep giving it my best without worrying too much about the result because that was not in my hands.
Close shaves
“It was annoying to not win despite coming close so often but nevertheless my confidence was sky-high knowing that I was playing great golf every week and that kept me going.
“Today my putter was on fire as I holed a lot of very crucial putts which kept the momentum going for me. Aman played really well to force the playoff, but it was a whole new ball game once the playoff began.
“My drive was crucial because I had struggled off the tees all day. After Aman hit the fairway with his drive, I knew I had to put it in play to have a good chance and that’s exactly what I did.
“I then played a terrific approach shot and left myself a good number on the green. My putting confidence was already high and that finally helped me sink the winning putt on the playoff hole.”
Also read: Cheema maintains Vizag Open domination with 54-hole lead
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