By Rahul Banerji
Keita Nakajima needed to survive a few jitters en route to sealing victory at the $2.25 million Hero Indian Open at the DLF Golf and Country Club in Gurgaon on Sunday.
The 23-year-old Japanese, who is well on his way to stardom eventually emerged winner by a comfortable four shots and also set a winning total record of 17 under par 271 , three better that achieved by Germany’s Marcel Siem last year.
Veer Ahlawat made the venue proud by taking a share of second place, the best finish by an Indian at the event since Shiv Shankar Prasad Chawrasia won his second Indian Open back in 2017.
The DLF golfer, who has been with coaches Anitya Chand and Karan Bindra for the last 13 years overcame mid-round jitters to cap his finish with a brilliant eagle on the 18th hole before a large and appreciative home audience.
Late jitters
The only question on Sunday was the margin of victory by Nakajima. At one stage he was nine strokes ahead of his chasers but three consecutive bogeys dented the sheen of his maiden DP World Tour win somewhat.
After touching 21-under after the first eight holes on Sunday, he dropped a double bogey and three bogeys against one birdie in the last five holes to finish four clear of Ahlawat, American Johannes Veerman and Sweden’s Sebastian Soderberg.
It was Nakajima’s fifth professional win, after four on the Japanese Tour, which includes one as an amateur, where he topped the 2023 Order of Merit to earn his DP World Tour card.
Home fans had much to cheer as Ahlawat literally produced a grandstand finish after a mid-round run of four bogeys.
It was the newly-married Ahlawat’s best result on the international stage and will get him into the next European tour event in Korea in a fortnight’s time. In fact he was the best Indian finisher for the second year in a row, having taken a T13 placing in 2023.
“ I’m really happy to have played so well in front of my home crowd, my family and my new bride,” Ahlawat said later.
“There was some pressure from high expectations of playing at my home course with my coach also being present here. But I managed to put together a good week thanks to some brilliant driving and iron-play.
“Finishing with an eagle was the icing on the cake. There was just one bad drive by me on the eighth today. Playing well in such a strong field and negotiating the windy conditions today was a real boost.
Winning feeling
“This second place feels almost as good as a win,” he added with a smile.
Manu Gandas (71) who played the DP World Tour in 2023, was the next best, just outside the Top-10 in tied 11th place, which was his best finish on the tour.
Other Indian placings were Karandeep Kochhar (69) at T13, Shubhankar Sharma (72) T31, Aman Raj (78) in shared 51st, Jairaj Singh Sandhu (71) and Gaganjeet Bhullar (72) in T58 and Rashid Khan (78) T65.
Nakajima stuttered in the closing stages and admitted later he was feeling the nerves.
“I was a little nervous and I had a tough back nine but I hit some great shots. Fortunately I had a few strokes in the bank which I can credit back to my strong play on the front nine and the earlier rounds this week, so overall very proud of my performance.
“At the same time, I’m very happy to win the Indian National Open. This win feels like my first win in a professional career, a new career. I’m going to try to win and go to the next step.
“I’m very proud to have won on the DP World Tour and very honoured to be playing here. I want to try and finish on the top ten on this tour and then go to the PGA Tour in 2025.
“My coach Gareth Jones, an Australian has been with the Japan national team since 2015, and I am very keen to play in the Olympics with Hideki (Matsuyama). That’s my goal. I’m going to try for it.”
Top five Indian finishers
T2: 13 under 275 Veer Ahlawat (69-66-69-71)
T11: 9 under 279 Manu Gandas (73-65-70-71)
T13: 8 under 280 Karandeep Kochhar (68-70-73-69)
T31: 4 under 284 Shubhankar Sharma (70-70-72-72)
T51: Level par 288 Aman Raj (68-68-74-78)
Also read: Nakajima builds on lead as Ahlawat stays sixth at Hero Indian Open
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