Rashid Khan rediscovers form with four-shot victory at CG Open

By Rahul Banerji

Delhi’s Rashid Khan produced a determined final round of seven-under-63 at the Bombay Presidency Golf Club on Saturday to carve out a four-shot victory at the CG Open.

It was a return to the winner’s circle after two years for the 27-year-old, who closed the Rs. 1 crore event with an imposing total of 16-under-264.

Two-time Asian Tour winner Khan, who also had the day’s best score, was third time lucky at the CG Open after finishing runner-up twice before. The CG Open was Rashid’s 10^th professional title and an eighth win on the PGTI.

Shamim Khan (67-71-66-64), the 2016 champion, had a flawless final round of six-under-64 to gain three places for a runner-up finish at 12-under-268.

Early run

Rashid (68-62-71-63), overnight second, one behind N, Thangaraja, made an early charge with a birdie-eagle-birdie run from the third to the fifth where he made a tap-in followed by two eight-footers. He bulked the lead to three shots with another birdie on the ninth.

Khan then had a relatively quiet back nine with a bogey and three birdies, was enough to see him through to the finish line even as the others struggled to catch up.

The winner took home a cheque worth Rs. 16,16,500 that saw him climb from 98^th to 19^th  in the Order of Merit.

Rashid said, “I’m extremely glad to come through this week after a long winless streak. I needed a good start today and I managed that with some quality iron-play early on that helped me build a decent lead.

“The bogey on the 10^th was disappointing but I made up for that with a 25-foot birdie conversion on the 14^th.At that point I knew that the match was in the bag.

“I’ve tried a lot of things over the last two years as I struggled with my form. But now I’m visualising my shots well and executing them to perfection. This week I landed most shots where I wanted to.”

Shamim, who began with a 35-foot eagle conversion added four more birdies to finish a respectable second. The reigning PGTI Order of Merit champion took away Rs. 11,16,500 to rise from ninth to third in the current money list.

Sri Lankan Thangaraja was third at 11-under-269 after a final round of 69.

Mysore-based 23-year-old rookie Yashas Chandra was fourth, his best finish as a professional, after a last round of 68 that pushed his total to 10-under-270.

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