By Rahul Banerji
Shubhankar Sharma and S.S.P. Chawrasia battled through the final two rounds of the Scottish Championship at St Andrews even as Jason Kokrak showed in Las Vegas that perseverance pays, eventually.
PGA Tour veteran Kokrak converted his 233rd start into a winning one in the CJ Cup at Shadow Creek in Nevada to bring home his first ever title
It took the 35-year-old 10 years of grinding it out on the toughest golfing circuit on the planet, and the Vegas victory served to underline the value of determination and a never-say-die attitude.
Those are attributes Sharma and Chawrasia saw first hand as Spain’s Adrian Otaguei took victory before their eyes in Scotland.
The 28-year-old earned his maiden title on the European Tour by four shots over 2018 Hero Indian Open winner Matt Wallace of England, starting the day four behind the leaders.
Minor gains
Sharma brought in a 7-under par 281 aggregate (71-72-70-68) to take a share of 37th place while Chawrasia fought past the disappointment of a poor third round to finish T51 on 4-under 284 (69-69-76-70).
While Chawrasia flies to Italy for this week’s Italian Open in Brescia followed by the Cyprus Open, Sharma will head straight for the Mediterranean island for next week’s event.
Sharma and Chawrasia, a three-time Indian Open champion, are 149th and 200th respectively in the Race to Dubai, the European Tour’s Order of Merit list.
Both made minor gains at Fairmont St Andrews. Sharma rising three places in the standings and Chawrasia, eight.
Kokrak at the end
In Las Vegas, Nevada, Kokrak out-gunned fellow-American Xander Schauffele for his maiden Tour title with a stylish two-stroke victory on Sunday, the PGA Tour said.
Starting the final round three back of overnight leader Russell Henley, Kokrak produced a flawless 8-under 64 to aggregate a 20-under 268 in his 233rd start on TOUR.
It made him the third 35-plus winner on the Tour in as many weeks after Sergio Garcia (Sanderson Farms) and Martin Laird (Shriner’s Open) after Stewart Cink had set the pace at the Safeway Open.
Kokrak made eight birdies to hold off playing partner Schauffele, who carded a final round 66.
Costly miss
Schauffele, chasing his fifth Tour title, paid dearly for bogey on the par-5 16th hole as Kokrak put the icing on his maiden triumph with a closing birdie on the last.
England’s Tyrrell Hatton, winner of the BMW PGA Championship last week, ended his campaign with a 65 while defending champion Justin Thomas had a 74 to settle for T12 in the $9.75 million tournament.
Into his 10th season, Kokrak had three runner-up placings before Sunday’s win that was worth $1.75 million.
“Game plan was simple, to hit fairways,” Kokrak said.
“I made some nice putts on the front nine and a couple (of) par saves here and there, but I couldn’t be happier,” added Kokrak, who earned 500 FedEx Cup points to move up to fourth place on the list.
Also read: Chawrasia makes eye-catching return to tournament golf
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