By Rahul Banerji
Honey Baisoya ended a three-year title drought with a determined display in the J&K Open 2021 at the Royal Springs Golf Course in Srinagar on Saturday.
The Delhi golfer, who has been struggling to find form through the season totalled an 18-under 270 total for his seventh Professional Golf Tour of India title.
Baisoya (67-69-66-68) had a final round of 4-under 68 to win by four shots from Gurgaon’s Veer Ahlawat, who took his second runners-up finish in as many weeks.
The result meant Baisoya would climb from 85th to 22nd place in the PGTI Order of Merit.
Ahlawat (67-71-70-66) also made his presence felt in the last round with a 6-under 66 to tally 14-under 274 at the Rs. 40 lakh event.
Patna’s Aman Raj (68-71-70-66) too had a 66 on the day to take third place on 13-under 275, the PGTI said.
Baisoya, in the overnight lead by four shots, made a nervy start with tough par putts from five to six feet on the first six holes.
Early pressure
Ahead of him, Angad Cheema and Kartik Sharma were piling on the pressure with early birdies.
The 25-year-old Baisoya almost found the hole with his chip on the seventh but eventually tapped in for his first birdie of the day.
A 20-foot birdie conversion followed on the ninth as he made the turn with a two-shot cushion.
Baisoya dropped his first shot of the tournament when he three-putted on 13. That cut his lead over Ahlawat to just two shots.
But Baisoya, who has won at another hilly course before in Shillong, made a final push for victory with birdies on 14 and 15 with long conversions thanks to his new putter.
Baisoya landed his approach from 134 yards to within a foot to set up another birdie on 17 that all but sealed the title.
Confidence boost
The elated winner, who had just one top-20 from 10 starts in the season prior to this week, said, “It still feels like a dream because till last week I was very low on confidence and not even sure of shooting an under-par score.
“So this win is all the more special.
“Normally I’m a very aggressive player but with the confidence not being up there I tried to play more conservatively than I usually do.
“I used the 2-iron a lot and struck it to perfection all week. I also didn’t make mistakes on the green as I had done in preceding events. The goal this week was to make the cut and I ended up winning. So it’s still sinking in.
“I was two-under on the front-nine when Angad (Cheema) was playing really well. When he made birdie on 10, I was just two shots ahead and two shots mean nothing in a pressure situation in the final round.
“When Angad found the water on the 11th the pressure eased up for me.
Steady climb
Ahlawat posted his second straight runner-up finish on the PGTI to move up from fifth to third in the Order of Merit.
His final round featured an eagle-two on the par-4 11th where he found the hole with his approach from 108 yards. He also made five birdies and a bogey to gain six spots in round four.
Veer said, “I played a solid final round despite a slow start.
“My game is in great shape and that is evident from the runner-up finishes in consecutive weeks. Things are really looking up for the remainder of the season.”
Aman Raj’s 66 lifted him seven places to third position. He made seven birdies and a bogey.
Om Prakash Chouhan (66) of Mhow and Panchkula’s Angad Cheema (70) shared fourth place on 12-under 276.
Delhi’s Chiragh Kumar (67) finished a further shot back in sixth place on 11-under 277.
Kolkata’s Viraj Madappa had the day’s lowest score of 65 to secure tied seventh along with Kartik Sharma (72) of Gurgaon on 10-under 278.
Shravan Desai, who was overnight tied second, posted a career-best tied ninth at nine-under 279.
Delhi’s Rashid Khan, PGTI Order of Merit leader Karandeep Kochhar of Chandigarh and Delhi-based Kshitij Naveed Kaul were bunched in tied 12th at eight-under 280.
Also read: Third round 66 gives Baisoya a handy lead at Royal Springs
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