Karandeep Kocchar fashions dramatic win to bag Gujarat Open Golf trophy

Kochhar, who was placed fourth overnight before the start of the day, came from behind with a steady final round of two-under 70 in the fourth round to finish with an overall total of 10-under 278 to claim his fourth title of the career.

Arjun Prasad (73-65-70-71), who was also overnight tied fourth, came within striking range of his maiden title before narrowly missing out. The Delhi golfer totaled nine-under 279 following a final round of 71 to secure his second runner-up finish on the PGTI and lost to Kochhar by just one stroke.

Kochhar, who secured second place on the PGTI Order of Merit last year courtesy his two wins, made a slow start with two birdies and two bogeys on the front-nine. Kochhar kept himself in contention with birdies from tough spots on the 12th and 14th hole, both par-5s. The 15th hole was probably the turning point for Kochhar as he again got out of trouble with a chip-in for birdie even as Prasad missed a 12-footer for birdie.

Prasad missed a short three-feet putt for par on the 18th hole that could’ve taken the match into a playoff. Kochhar also dropped a bogey on the closing hole but held on to his one-shot advantage to emerge winner.

“Nothing can be better than starting a season with a win. Winning here proves that my hitting is right up there since this course always requires good ball-striking. I put in a lot of work with my coach before the season when he asked me to trust my swing. All that work seems to be paying off now. After a slow start to the day I knew I was still in it as there were a couple of par-5s on the back-nine to capitalise on. I managed to score on those par-5s and added another birdie with a chip-in on the 15th hole that further lifted my confidence. On the last hole, I was mentally prepared for a playoff after dropping a bogey but got a little lucky when Arjun too missed his par putt. Playing well in the windy conditions on the Asian Tour prior to this week was immensely helpful in preparing me for this event as Kalhaar too offers similar conditions.” said Kochhar.

Ranjit Singh of Chandigarh, the joint overnight leader, carded a final round score of two-over 74 to claim the third place with an overall score of eight-under 280.

Bengaluru’s M Dharma and Kapil Kumar of Delhi, the other two joint leaders after the third round, shot scores of three-over-75 to end the week in tied-fourth place at seven-under 281.

Ranjit Singh, searching for his maiden title, was leading by two shots till the 12th hole. However, he dropped a quadruple-bogey (8) on the par-4 13th hole to slip out of contention. Gurugram golfer Kartik Sharma produced the day’s best score of 68 to finish tied-10th with an score of two-under 286.