Chandigarh lad Karandeep finishes tied 9th in golf

Tribune News Service

Ahmedabad, February 19

Bengaluru’s Chikkarangappa took centre stage today as he shot a solid final round score of four-under-68 to earn a remarkable come-from-behind win at the Gujarat Open Golf Championship at the Kalhaar Blues & Greens Golf Club in Ahmedabad. Chandigarh golfer Karandeep Kochhar finished tied ninth at one-under-287 this week.

The 27-year-old Chikka ended the week at the Rs 30-lakh event with a winning score of nine-under-279 to emerge triumphant by three shots and register his 13th win on the PGTI. It was his 14th career title.

Kolkata’s Viraj Madappa fired the last day’s best score of seven-under-65 to finish runner-up at six-under-282.

Om Prakash Chouhan, the leader for the first three days who was ahead by a comfortable five-shot margin at the start of the final round, carded a disastrous six-over-78 which saw him drop to tied third in the final placings at five-under-283.

Delhi’s Sachin Baisoya (68) and Kolkata’s SSP Chawrasia (71) also took a share of third place along with Chouhan. Chawrasia was the only player with four sub-par rounds this week.

Chikkarangappa (69-72-70-68), who began the day six shots off the lead in third place, had a profitable front-nine as he scored birdies on the first, fourth and seventh, thanks to his accurate approach shots and consistent putting which included a 15-foot conversion on the first.

The tournament witnessed a dramatic turn when Chouhan, who had earlier birdied the fourth, found the water hazard twice with his tee shot on the par-3 seventh hole which has an island green. Chouhan thus dropped a quadruple-bogey (7) there as his lead came down to just one shot.

The setback at a crucial time on the seventh took a toll on Chouhan’s game as he struggled on the greens thereafter missing short putts on the 10th, 11th and 17th for bogeys on all three holes that put him out of the contest.

Meanwhile, Chikka, who was three-under at the turn, seized the advantage as he added three more birdies on the back-nine at the cost of two bogeys to ease to victory. He sank a 15-footer for birdie on the 13th, an important 12-footer for bogey on the 14th and landed his approach within a few inches of the pin for birdie on the 17th.

With his winning purse of Rs 4,84,950, Chikka continued to be second on the PGTI Order of Merit for the 2020-21 season with total earnings of Rs 28,29,930.