<p>There was to be no late drama or slip-ups as the calm and perfectly composed Poom Saksansin clinched the TAKE Solutions Masters golf title here at the Karnataka Golf Association on Sunday.<br /><br />In glorious conditions, Saksansin who led from the start, played a solid round of 67 to finish with a total of 16-under 268 and pip local favourite Khalin Joshi by two shots. Khalin also carded a 67 in the final round.<br /><br />Khalin kicked-off his final round at 10-under and couldn't have asked for a better start with a birdie on the first hole. Despite carding two birdies more (7) than the leader, what eventually cost the 24-year-old were the bogeys he endured on the seventh, ninth and the 14th holes.<br /><br />In contrast, Saksansin dropped just the solitary shot and much like the first three days, the baby-faced Thai oozed class and confidence to become the first non-Indian since 2014 to win an Asian Tour event on Indian soil.<br /><br />A man of few words, Saksansin had a unique response when told of his feat. “Is that so? I did not know. I'm very sorry about it,” he said bowing in apology.<br /><br />Another local lad S Chikkarangappa, considered a final day specialist, found the going tough and had an ordinary outing in round three to shoot two-over 73. The Eagleton golfer slipped from sole third (eight-under) to be tied-10 with a final total of 278.<br /><br />Unfancied Chandigarh boy Ajeetesh Sandhu rose in the rankings to finish in third place. Coming into the final day with a five-under score, Ajeetesh had a round of five-under 66 to end the tournament with a score of 10-under 274.<br /><br />For Saksansin, to sit atop the leaderboard right from the opening round was something he least expected.<br /><br />“No, I didn’t expect to win and be leader for four days! I was very surprised I was the leader after the third round because I played so badly. But after leading for three days, it would have been very disappointing to lose,” he quipped.<br /><br />There was a slight scare for the Bangkok player when he missed a regulation putt on the par-3 15th after Khalin had just birdied. At this point the duo were separated by just two shots with Khalin on 12-under and Saksansin playing 14-under with three to play.<br /><br />But using his skill-set to the optimum Saksansin bounced back with a great shot off the fairway to land the ball within a few feet of the pin on the 16th. It was all too easy after that as he sunk his putt to re-instate a three-shot lead. Khalin birdied the last two holes but a birdie on the 17th and an easy par on the last was enough for the champion.<br /><br />“I thought I could bring it back on the back-nine but I guess I let go at some point and it slipped away from me,” said a disappointed Khalin.<br /><br />Among the rest, Divyanshu Bajaj and Abhinav Lohan came home joint-fourth with Indonesia's Rory Hie after the trio totalled 275.<br /><br />SSP Chawrasia's miserable tournament ended in lacklustre fashion as the 39-year-old finished one-over 285 to end his hope of claiming a hat-trick of Asian Tour wins in India.<br /><br />Results (Indians unless specified): Final standings: 268: Poom Saksansin (Tha) (64, 67, 70, 67); 270: Khalin Joshi (68, 67, 68, 67); 274: Ajeetesh Sandhu (69, 72, 67, 66); 275: Rory Hie (Ina) (69, 67, 72, 67), Divyanshu Bajaj (66, 71, 69, 69), Abhinav Lohan (70, 72, 64, 69).</p>
<p>There was to be no late drama or slip-ups as the calm and perfectly composed Poom Saksansin clinched the TAKE Solutions Masters golf title here at the Karnataka Golf Association on Sunday.<br /><br />In glorious conditions, Saksansin who led from the start, played a solid round of 67 to finish with a total of 16-under 268 and pip local favourite Khalin Joshi by two shots. Khalin also carded a 67 in the final round.<br /><br />Khalin kicked-off his final round at 10-under and couldn't have asked for a better start with a birdie on the first hole. Despite carding two birdies more (7) than the leader, what eventually cost the 24-year-old were the bogeys he endured on the seventh, ninth and the 14th holes.<br /><br />In contrast, Saksansin dropped just the solitary shot and much like the first three days, the baby-faced Thai oozed class and confidence to become the first non-Indian since 2014 to win an Asian Tour event on Indian soil.<br /><br />A man of few words, Saksansin had a unique response when told of his feat. “Is that so? I did not know. I'm very sorry about it,” he said bowing in apology.<br /><br />Another local lad S Chikkarangappa, considered a final day specialist, found the going tough and had an ordinary outing in round three to shoot two-over 73. The Eagleton golfer slipped from sole third (eight-under) to be tied-10 with a final total of 278.<br /><br />Unfancied Chandigarh boy Ajeetesh Sandhu rose in the rankings to finish in third place. Coming into the final day with a five-under score, Ajeetesh had a round of five-under 66 to end the tournament with a score of 10-under 274.<br /><br />For Saksansin, to sit atop the leaderboard right from the opening round was something he least expected.<br /><br />“No, I didn’t expect to win and be leader for four days! I was very surprised I was the leader after the third round because I played so badly. But after leading for three days, it would have been very disappointing to lose,” he quipped.<br /><br />There was a slight scare for the Bangkok player when he missed a regulation putt on the par-3 15th after Khalin had just birdied. At this point the duo were separated by just two shots with Khalin on 12-under and Saksansin playing 14-under with three to play.<br /><br />But using his skill-set to the optimum Saksansin bounced back with a great shot off the fairway to land the ball within a few feet of the pin on the 16th. It was all too easy after that as he sunk his putt to re-instate a three-shot lead. Khalin birdied the last two holes but a birdie on the 17th and an easy par on the last was enough for the champion.<br /><br />“I thought I could bring it back on the back-nine but I guess I let go at some point and it slipped away from me,” said a disappointed Khalin.<br /><br />Among the rest, Divyanshu Bajaj and Abhinav Lohan came home joint-fourth with Indonesia's Rory Hie after the trio totalled 275.<br /><br />SSP Chawrasia's miserable tournament ended in lacklustre fashion as the 39-year-old finished one-over 285 to end his hope of claiming a hat-trick of Asian Tour wins in India.<br /><br />Results (Indians unless specified): Final standings: 268: Poom Saksansin (Tha) (64, 67, 70, 67); 270: Khalin Joshi (68, 67, 68, 67); 274: Ajeetesh Sandhu (69, 72, 67, 66); 275: Rory Hie (Ina) (69, 67, 72, 67), Divyanshu Bajaj (66, 71, 69, 69), Abhinav Lohan (70, 72, 64, 69).</p>
