By Rahul Banerji
Om Prakash Chouhan overcame the disappointment of missing out last week with a determined display on the final day of the Glade One Masters in Ahmedabad.
The seasoned Mhow professional, co-leader overnight, played flawless golf on Friday to claim the top prize in the Rs 30 lakh event by a comfortable four strokes.
Gurgaon’s Manu Gandas was second on 13-under-203 after firing a one-under-71 in the final round.
Chouhan (35-33-64-67) made a flying start with birdies on the second and third holes thanks to his accurate lob wedge approach shots that left him short putts.
Om Prakash all but ran away with the match after eagle-birdie on the eighth and ninth gave him a six-shot lead over Gandas who was one-over at the turn.
For the second day in a row, Chouhan produced a magical shot from the fairway bunker on the eighth to again found the hole from 115 yards for an eagle-two.
The birdie on the ninth came as a result of a 15-feet conversion.
‘OP’ as Chouhan is referred to, had also dominated last week’s event at Kalhaar Blues & Greens having led for the first three days.
A quadruple bogey after finding water on the seventh hole in the final round though put paid to his chances last week and saw him finish tied third.
Relief
Chouhan said later, “I’m relieved to have won today especially after the disappointment of last week.
“I had told myself at the start of this event that I will not repeat the mistakes of last week. That was a rare occasion when I played in the lead group during the final round and did not win.
“I have now won six times while playing in the leader group in round four. When I’m in a good position I generally don’t let the opportunity slip away.
“But that didn’t happen last week so that was a big lesson for me.
“I must thank Ragesh Vasa a leading amateur golfer here in Ahmedabad for all his inputs about this course.
“He helped me on all kinds of information about Glade One including the layout, yardages, green speed and reading the line on the greens. He was motivating me through my round today.
“I would also like to thank my wife Sheetal who gave me a pep talk after I missed out on a win last week.
“It was my marriage anniversary on February 24 and she said her biggest gift would be my victory at Glade One.
“I attacked well at the start today and then tried to play some conservative golf on the back nine and tried to avoid getting overconfident despite the big lead at the turn.
‘Perfect execution’
“I executed my pitching wedge shot from the bunker to perfection for the second day running.
“The yardage from there was somehow perfect for my shot as it was about 115 yards out and almost in the same spot as round three.”
Chouhan’s sixth career win earned him Rs.4,84,950 and lifted him from 23rd to 13th in the PGTI Order of Merit.
He will earn three Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points and climb significantly from his current world ranking of 823 when the updated rankings are released on Monday.
Gandas (35-30-67-71) picked up six birdies on Friday but also conceded a bogey and two doubles to post a 71.
He did not pose a threat to Chouhan during the round and matched his previous best result on the PGTI with his runner-up finish.
Delhi’s Rashid Khan (69), Faridabad’s Abhinav Lohan (68) and Gurgaon’s Veer Ahlawat (69) took joint third on 8-under-208.
Chandigarh’s Karandeep Kochhar kept his lead intact in the PGTI Order of Merit with a T8 finish on 6-under-210.
Noida’s Gaurav Pratap Singh had the day’s best score of 6-under-66 to claim tied 11th on 5-under-211.
Of the Ahmedabad-based professionals, Shravan Desai was T31 , Jay Pandya was T42 and day one co-leader Anshul Patel was T54.
Also read: Patel uses local comfort to share Glade One Masters lead
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