JOIN USSaksansin triumphant
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
For Saksansin, to sit atop the leaderboard right from the opening round was something he least expected.
“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.
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.
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.
“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.
Among the rest, Divyanshu Bajaj and Abhinav Lohan came home joint-fourth with Indonesia's Rory Hie after the trio totalled 275.
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.
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).