Zaman Mollah cards sensational 63 to nick Bengal Open title

By Rahul Banerji

Bangladesh’s Md Zamal Hossain Mollah stole the show on the final day of the inaugural Bengal Open Golf Championship 2019 presented by West Bengal Tourism at the Tollygunge Club course on Friday with a 7-under 63 on the final day on Kolkata on Friday.

The 34-year-old, who made a relatively slow start to the event with scores of 68 and 69 to be tied 39^th at the halfway stage, bounded out of the chasing pack with bogey-free efforts of 8-under-62 and the 63 over the final two days to clinch the title by one shot at 18-under-262.

Winless streak

Zamal (68-69-62-63) gained 11 places on the last day to chalk out his first win in India and end a seven-year winless streak on the Tata Steel PGTI.

Delhi’s Honey Baisoya (64-64-65-70), overnight leader by two shots, couldn’t replicate his form from the previous rounds as he had a modest 70 to settle for second place at 17-under-263 at the Rs. 30 lakh event.

Mollah, 12^th overnight six shots off the lead, managed just two birdies on the front-nine, both with long conversions. But a flurry of four consecutive birdies thanks to some superb putting put him firmly in title contention even as Baisoya battled to stay in the race.

Key conversion

The Dhaka-based Mollah’s chipping also helped set up short putts for three birdies including the all-important par on the 18^th. He thus ended up with the day’s best score for the second day in succession.

Zamal, whose third round of 62 was the tournament’s joint best score broke a winless streak stretching back to the 2012 Bangladesh Open at his home course, the Kurmitola Golf Club in Dhaka.

The win at Tollygunge lifted Zamal from 46^th to sixth place in the Tata Steel PGTI Order of Merit as he took home a cheque worth Rs. 4,84,950. Mollah, who will bag five Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points for his efforts, is likely to make significant gains from his current 940^th place in the world when the new rankings list is released on Monday, March 18.

Cold and hot putter

Mollah later said, “My putting came good after a long time and that’s what made all the difference on the last two days. In the first two rounds I missed as many as seven putts from a range of three feet.

“But all that changed from round three onwards. I hardly put a foot wrong since the start of round three and that explains my combined tally of 15-under over the last two days.

“It feels great to achieve my first PGTI win outside my home course and in India. I’m also delighted to have won on the PGTI after such a long gap. I was disappointed to lose out after coming close a few times in recent years. I feel my putting stroke is back and that will help me get better results in the near future.

“The turning point for me today was making four birdies in a row from the 10^th to the 13^th. The bunker shot that led to a tap-in birdie on the 13^th really lifted my confidence. I felt I needed two to three more birdies after that but as it turned out just one more birdie on the 15^th was good enough.

“I will now carry this form and confidence into the Indian Open which begins in two weeks and also into the Asian Tour event at my home course in Bangladesh which will be played next month.”

Missing out

Baisoya seemed on course to his seventh title with two birdies to build a healthy three-shot lead. However, the leader from rounds two and three, had a forgettable 13^th hole where he hit his drive out of bounds leading to a double-bogey.

Baisoya trailed Zamal by one shot going into the last hole and had a chance to take the match into a playoff when he needed a 20-feet birdie conversion on the 18^th. However, he missed by a whisker.

Chandigarh’s Karandeep Kochhar (66) and Delhi’s Rashid Khan (68) shared third place at 16-under-264.

Shankar Das had the best finish among Kolkata’s golfers with a share of seventh place at 14-under-266 while Sunit Chowrasia was tied 16^th at 10-under-270. His uncle and two-time Indian Open champion S.S.P. Chawrasia closed the week in tied 30^th at 5-under-275.

Also read: Karan Pratap smashes to Bengal Open lead with 8-under round