JOIN USChiragh Kumar fired a two-under 70 in the final round to clinch the USD 400,000 Panasonic Open by three shots at Delhi Golf Club on Sunday.
Playing on his home course, the 31-year-old fought off a stiff fight from Bangladesh’s Siddikur Rahman for his breakthrough win on Asian Tour which fetched him the cheque of USD 72,000. He scored a total of 13-under-par 275.
Siddikur, who suffered a recurring lower back injury on the second hole, ended the final round on 69 for a tied second place finish with Thailand’s Thaworn Wiratchant (69).
Thailand’s Namchok Tantipokhakul shot a superb 66 to end his campaign in a share of fourth place alongside Mithun Perera (70) of Sri Lanka.
“Winning an Asian Tour event means a lot to me. I have grown up over here seeing senior players playing at this course and wanting to be at that stage and experiencing it today is really a dream come true,” said an emotional Chiragh.
The Indian, who was the overnight leader, was tied for the lead with Siddikur at the turn. He holed a birdie on the 11th to restore order but it was a huge 25-foot birdie putt on the 13th hole which gave Chiragh the edge. Siddikur fought back with a birdie on the 15th but two costly bogeys on 17th and 18th dashed his title hopes.
“I always knew that Siddikur will be a tough guy to beat especially when he was one-shot behind me. I’m lucky he didn’t get off to a hot start. It was neck and neck all the way but I kept myself together and played well,” admitted Chiragh.
Besides Chiragh, there were five other Indians who finished in top-10. They were Jyoti Randhawa and Shubhankar Sharma, both tied fourth at nine-under-279, and Manav Jaini, Shankar Das and Vikrant Chopra, all tied eighth at eight-under-280.
Leading scores (after 72 holes, Indians unless mentioned): 275: Chiragh Kumar (67, 66, 72, 70); 278: Thaworn Wiratchant (Tha, 68, 72, 69, 69), Siddikur Rahman (Ban, 68, 70, 68, 72); 279: Namchok Tantipokhakul (Tha, 71, 71, 71, 66), Jyoti Randhawa (69, 72, 71, 67), Shubhankar Sharma (70, 73, 67, 69), Mithun Perera (Sri, 66, 70, 73, 70).