J&k open golf: Honey Baisoya ends title drought; Chandigarh golfer Karandeep fails to impress

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 18

Honey Baisoya returned to his best as he ended a three-year title-drought with a determined display at the J&K Open 2021 today.

The six-time PGTI winner Baisoya (67-69-66-68), who was struggling for form through the season, carded a total of 18-under 270 following a classy final round of 4-under 68 to win by four shots.

The Delhi golfer thus skyrocketed from 85th to 22nd place in the PGTI Order of Merit.

Gurugram-based Veer Ahlawat (67-71-70-66) also made his presence felt as he shot a 66 in the last round to grab the second place at 14-under 274 in the Rs40-lakh event.

Patna’s Aman Raj (68-71-70-66) too shot a 66 on Day 4 to take third place at 13-under 275.

Baisoya, the overnight leader by four shots, had a nervy start to the day as he made some tough par putts from five-six feet on the first six holes even as the likes of Angad Cheema and Kartik Sharma were piling on the pressure on the leader with early birdies.

“Normally I’m a very aggressive player but with the confidence not being up there I tried to play more conservatively than I usually do. I used the 2-iron a lot and struck it to perfection all week. I also didn’t make mistakes on the green like I had done in preceding events. The goal this week was to make the cut and I ended up winning. So it’s still sinking in,” said Baisoya.

Ahlawat posted his second straight runner-up finish on the PGTI to move up from 5th to 3rd in the Order of Merit.

Ahlawat’s last round featured an eagle-two on the par-4 11th where he found the hole with his approach from 108 yards. He also made five birdies and a bogey to gain six spots in Round 4.

Raj’s 66 lifted him seven places to third position. He made seven birdies and a bogey.

Om Prakash Chouhan (66) of Mhow and Panchkula’s Angad Cheema (70) shared the fourth place at 12-under 276.

Delhi’s Chiragh Kumar (67) finished in 6th place at 11-under 277.

Kolkata’s Viraj Madappa shot the day’s lowest score of 65 to share the 7th spot along with Kartik Sharma (72) of Gurugram.

Shravan Desai, who was overnight tied 2nd, posted a career-best tied 9th at 9-under 279. Delhi’s Rashid Khan, PGTI Order of Merit leader Karandeep Kochhar of Chandigarh and Delhi-based Kshitij Naveed Kaul were bunched in tied 12th at 8-under 280.

Pune-based Udayan Mane finished tied 25th at 3-under 285 while Bengaluru’s Chikkarangappa ended tied 32nd at 1-under 287.

Veteran Jyoti Randhawa ended the week in tied 46th at 5-over 293.

Join Whatsapp Channel of The Tribune for latest updates.