Dazzling Lahiri wins title at his home turf

City-lad Chikkarangappa finishes second

Anirban Lahiri ended his home course duck in emphatic fashion that also saw his hard-working understudy S Chikkarangappa joining the celebrations by finishing second best in the PGTI-Eagleburg Open here on Friday.

Although he alternated between brilliant to ordinary, Lahiri, leading handsomely overnight, always maintained his grip on the title by seizing the important moments. He shot three-under 69 for a commanding five-shot victory after totalling 268 at the Eagleton Golf Resort.

The 19-year-old Chikkarangappa, who worked as a forecaddie at the very same course before shaping himself into a top amateur and now a promising pro, showed that he has come of age, carding a bogey-free 68 to finish second.

Sanjay Kumar, celebrating his 42nd birthday on the day, did breathe down Lahiri’s neck a few holes after the turn but with his short game not clicking and the local pro regaining his rhythm, the Lucknow veteran eventually slipped down to third spot at 275 after managing a 71.

“It’s feels so nice to win at your home course,” said the 26-year-old Lahiri after pocketing Rs 4,84,950. “Although I’m happy that I’ve won -- something I was determined to do at the start of the tournament -- I’m not too happy with the way I played today. I struggled with my hitting but my putter came to my rescue. I guess, it kind of balances,” he said.
Just like he had done in the second and third rounds, Lahiri took off in flying fashion, sinking a birdie right away to stay five clear of the chasing pack after Sanjay too picked up a shot. However, errors started to creep into his game soon after.

He hit the bunker on the second hole with his tee shot to bogey it before dropping another shot on the very next hole, two-putting a difficult a par attempt. But he hardly allowed the two blemishes to get the better of him, sinking birdies on the fourth, sixth, ninth and 10th holes to open up a massive seven-shot advantage.

On the fourth he missed a very long eagle putt to eventually drain a birdie before sinking a six-footer on the sixth. He pulled off a 10-footer on the ninth and five-footer on the 10th to move into cruise mode. And that’s when complacency started seeping in.

Assuming that the title is as good as won, Lahiri was given a quick reality check when he dropped shots on the 12th and 14th holes as the lead was cut down to four shots with four holes to go. With plenty of experience at the top level, Lahiri then took nothing for granted, immediately bringing his focus back to secure victory with a fine birdie on the 15th that restored his lead to five shots.

Missing a second eagle chance by a whisker, Lahiri completed a simple tap-in birdie before sending the crowd into raptures with a sizzling 30-footer birdie on the 17th.

Chikkarangappa then laid the icing on the cake with a neat birdie on the closing 18th as the two great pals embraced each other before heading for the celebrations.

Leading scores (after 72 holes): 268: Anirban Lahiri (73, 62, 64, 69); 273: S Chikkarangappa (72, 67, 66, 68); 275: Sanjay Kumar (69, 67, 68, 71); 276: Rahil Gangjee (68, 71, 67, 70); 279: Arshpreet Thind (68, 71, 68, 72); 280: Vikrant Chopra (70, 70, 72, 68), K Prabagaran; 281: Rashid Khan (74, 72, 64, 71); 282: Mukesh Kumar (69, 74, 72, 67); 283: Harendra Gupta (74, 71, 70, 68), Mithun Perera (76, 69, 68, 70), Abhinav Lohan (70, 69, 73, 71).