Gallacher survives heat, quadruple bogey to walk away the winner

By Rahul Banerji

Stephen Gallacher came into the final day of the $1.75 million Hero Indian Open with no greater ambition than to hang on to the leaders as best as possible, and then see how the day would pan out.

Of course, he had also prepared well, with a dinner of his beloved curry and a little whisky. It was to be enough as he waded through the carnage of the last day as one after the other, the leaders fell off their perch, leaving him to make the final end run.

And as the sun set on a breezy Sunday, the 44-year-old Scot, a veteran of 25 years on the European Tour, walked away cradling the Hero Indian Open trophy, a cheque of $291,660 in his pocket and a two-year winner’s exemption against his name.

Gallacher finished on 9-under par 279 (67, 74, 67, 71), one ahead of Japan’s Masahiro Kawamura who had chased the leaders – four different players through the course of the day – but to no avail, Finishing third was Spain’s Jorge Campillo, who made the most of relatively benign conditions that prevailed earlier in the morning.

Disappointing end

Overall, though it was a disappointing home Open for the Indian contingent left in the fray. Bangalorean Chikkarangappa S. and Rashid Khan of Delhi emerged as the best-placed home players while other others were well down the field.

Shubhankar Sharma was tied 27^th, Gaganjeet Bhullar T30th, and two-time Indian Open winner S.S.P. Chawrasia tied 46^th. Ajeetesh Sandhu, Rahil Ganjee and Gaurav Pratap Singh further down the order as windy conditions on the final day hurt almost every golfer out on the course.

Chikka started in joint sixth place five shots off the pace and had a birdie on his very first hole, just as he had done on Saturday. However, the 24-year-old could not build on that momentum and his run was badly dented with a double-bogey 5 on the par-3 fifth hole.

After that it was more damage limitation all the way as another double and a bogey followed on the back nine, leaving him too far behind to mount a challenge. In all the carnage, though Rashid played some steady golf for his second sub-par round of the week with a 2-under 70.

He mixed five bogeys with three bogeys to rise up the leader-board even as others around him continued to falter. He and Chikka had a four-day aggregate of 4-under 284.

Shubhankar was never really in the hunt and two doubles and as many bogeys meant he finished on level par 288 (69, 73, 71. 75).

Sleeping like a baby

Speaking after the win, Gallacher said he had slept well, even as he ran through a list of possible scenarios on Saturday night. “Yesterday I was so tired, to be honest. It was probably the warmest I’ve ever been on a golf course.

“Went home had a nice curry, I love the food over here, my favourite food, Had a whisky, I have a whisky every night when I come to India and slept like a baby.”

So what turned things in his favour? “The good thing is I have good scores around here so I knew what to expect. Last year I was in the same group as Matt Wallace when he won and it’s just a course I like,

“I have had good positive scores here couple of 60s so I knew the holes you need to watch and where to get the pars.”

That he did, despite clocking up a quadruple bogey on the par-4 seventh hole. “I was chasing the lead and was three behind to start the day.

“I got off to a slow start and then made a quadrule bogey but I was very calm as I saw that I was only five behind. I told myself ‘just stick in there’. You never know on this golf course, it can turn around very quickly given how tough its playing and then I went three under in the last three holes.”

Down and out

Overnight leaders Julian Suri and Callum Shinkwin were done in on the back nine as the wind continued to rise. Campillo had brought in a 6-under card but he could only watch the action unfold from the clubhouse while Kawamura remained Gallacher’s only serious challenger.

“I was actually very calm, it was just two bad shots, It was just one of those things, and I wasn’t thinking about it too much,” he said.

“This is a tough course and I was just five behind. I thought I would be nine behind or something, so that gave me a bit of hope. I just stayed patient really. I knew there were three par 5s and a couple of par fours you can drive on. So I just stayed patient the rest of the way.”

Gallacher’s vast experience as a professional showed when it mattered the most and on a day conditions were probably at their toughest at this year’s tournament. Five players had held or jointly held the lead and it was in the end the man with 25 years of playing on the European Tour who came up with the right plans and executed what was required the best.

Adding to Gallacher’s pleasure was the fact that his son, Jack, was caddying for him. “He’s been with be for the last 20-odd tournament and I’ve had three top-10s and a win. It’s good to have him around. I’m 45 soon so it’s nice to have him with me.”

And on Sunday night, Stephen Gallacher would have slept not just like a baby, but a winning baby too,

Also read: Afternoon sun sends scores soaring on hot opening day at HIO 2019