By Rahul Banerji
Abhinav Lohan aced late during his determined 3 under par 69 to secure victory at the Rs 1 crore Gujarat Open in Ahmedabad on Saturday.
It was a memorable final day for the DLF GCC-based Lohan, his 7 under 209 just shading Karnal’s Mani Ram who returned a 73 to finish runner-up on 6-under 210.
The first two rounds of the tournament at the Glade One course were played over nine holes and the final two rounds were of 18 holes, the PGTI said.
Lohan (34-36-70-69), tied fifth overnight five shots off the lead, had a dream outing on Saturday, acing hole 16 to turn the tide in his favour and seal his third career title and the first in four years.
The 34-year-old started with a bogey but came back with some good wedge shots on the fifth and eighth holes to pick up shots.
On hole 13 Lohan narrowly missed a hole-in-one and had to settle for a birdie. He then suffered a setback on 14 with a three-putt for bogey.
Game-changer
It preceded the game-changing hole-in-one on 16 that helped Lohan leapfrog all his rivals except Mani Ram who later stumbled with a quadruple-bogey on 17 that saw Abhinav emerge champion.
Mani Ram (33-33-71-73) was in line for a maiden PGTI title with a two-shot lead till 16 thanks to four birdies and two bogeys.
But poor bunker shots on 17 where he had a tough lie saw Mani Ram concede a quadruple. However, his birdie with a long conversion on 18 helped the 41-year-old take the runner-up spot.
“I had found my putting rhythm in round two. I just built on that today,” Lohan said later.
A member of the silver medal-winning team at the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games, Lohan added, “That hole-in-one changed everything for me. I still can’t believe what a day I’ve had.
“Sitting in the scoring area I was more worried about calculating my score correctly before signing my card because I’ve signed a wrong scorecard in the past.
Perfect landing
“I guess it was just meant to be. I didn’t hit the best of shots on the 16th but it landed perfectly on the slope and found the hole.
“I would like to thank my family, my coach, my sponsor and my home course DLF Golf & Country Club for all their support since this win has been a long time coming,” added Lohan.
A winner’s cheque worth Rs 15 lakh carried him from 26th to third place in the Tata Steel PGTI Ranking.
Italy’s Michele Ortolani and Chandigarh’s Angad Cheema took tied third place on 5-under 211.
Ahmedabad’s Anshul Patel was the best-placed of the local golfers as he ended the week in tied 24th on 2-over 218.
Scotland’s Harvey McDonald won the trophy as the event’s top amateur.
Final top four
209: Abhinav Lohan (34-36-70-69)
210: Mani Ram (33-33-71-73)
211: Michele Ortolani (39-32-71-69); Angad Cheema (33-38-69-71)
Also read: Mohd Azhar builds two-shot lead on Gujarat Open day three
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