Amid mounting tension, the aggressive approach of Matt Wallace on the playoff-hole paid off. The resultant birdie made him the first Englishman to win the $1.75 million Hero Indian Open title here on Sunday.
On the 624-yard par-five 18th hole, the 26-year-old fired his second shot over the vast water body and reached the green.
In contrast, compatriot Andrew Johnston preferred to lay-up and stayed well behind the lake. Once on the green, Johnston’s birdie-putt lipped out. This left Wallace with two shots to win. And he did, to collect the winner’s share of $291,660.
For third-round co-leader Shubhankar Sharma, it was meltdown time for the second successive Sunday.
Two double-bogeys over three holes on the front-nine put Shubhankar out of contention. He endured a third double-bogey on the back-nine.
Overall, very little worked for Shubhankar, who set the course record on Friday. In fact, his six birdies against three double-bogeys and three bogeys pushed him down tied seventh place.
Last week at the WGC Mexico Championship, too, Shubhankar began as a leader, armed with a two-shot lead, but eventually finished tied ninth to collect $48,125.
“I made a bad swing on the fifth hole and went out of contention” said Shubhankar. “I was trying to come back, but I made another bad swing on the seventh. You can’t really drop too many shots on this course and I dropped nine today.
“Disappointments are part of the game. It’ll just make me stronger. The next time I’m in this situation, I’ll do better,” he said.
By sheer coincidence, if it was Phil Mickelson who played in the leaders’ group last week with Shubhankar and won the title following a first-hole playoff, it was Wallace on this day!
“I played great,” said Wallace, who won his second title on the European Tour 32 weeks after being triumphant in the Portugal Open.
“Ever since being three-over through eight (holes) at the start of the week, I’ve played some of the best golf of my life and to do it in that style at the end there, capped it off.”
The scores:
277: Andrew Johnston (Eng) (72, 66, 73, 66), Matt Wallace (Eng) (69, 70, 70, 68) (Wallance wins first playoff-hole); 280: Kim Sihwan (USA) (70, 70, 72, 68); 281: Pablo Larrazabal (Esp) (67, 71, 74, 69), Matthias Schwab (Aut) (71, 72, 68, 70); 283: Emiliano Grillo (Arg) (65, 68, 78, 72); 284: Stephen Gallacher (Sco) (72, 71, 67, 74), Shubhankar Sharma (73, 64, 72, 75).
Other Indians: 293: Jyoti Randhawa (72, 72, 76, 73), Kshitij Naveed Kaul (70, 76, 77, 70); 294: Anirban Lahiri (72, 73, 75, 74); 295: Khalin Joshi (72, 68, 81, 74), Ajeetesh Sandhu (68, 76, 74, 77); 297: Karandeep Kochhar (75, 72, 76, 74); 299 – Udayan Mane (72, 75, 79, 73).