Panchkula: Bangalore-boy Anirban Lahiri
posted a steady 69 in the final round of the Aircel-PGTI`s
Haryana Open 2009 to clinch his maiden professional title here
today.
Lahiri totaled 10 under 278 for the tournament to finish
one stroke ahead of C Muniyappa at the Panchkula Golf Club.
Lahiri took home the winner`s cheque of Rs 4,84,950 to
climb from fourth to third on the Aircel-PGTI Order of Merit
for 2009.
Lahiri (69, 69, 71, 69) picked up a birdie on the very
first hole, helped by a top-class drive and an equally good
chip shot from the front edge of the green.
The 22-year-old, who was tied fourth after round three,
raised his title hopes after he birdied the seventh. Lahiri
was in the joint lead along with local lad Mandeo Singh
Pathania at the turn as Harendra Gupta, the overnight leader,
slipped down the leaderboard due to his poor run on the front
nine.
Lahiri added two more birdies to his card on the 10th and
12th to become the sole leader. He made a good 15 feet putt
for birdie on the 12th and followed that up with a 12-footer
for par on the 13th.
The Asian Tour regular found the trees with his tee shot
on the 16th but recovered well with two left-handed shots to
make a bogey on that hole. He then pulled it left on the final
hole but made a good recovery with a second shot (seven iron)
from an accurate chip to round off his week on a high.
Lahiri said, "It`s a wonderful feeling after winning my
first ever professional title. I have waited a long time for
this moment since I have been on the threshold of a win
several times in the past but not really got there."
"I feel a lot lighter now after having achieved this
milestone. It’s now time to build on this victory with equally
good performances in the future.
"I knew I was in the reckoning when I saw the leaderboard
at the turn. At that stage I felt I needed about two to three
birdies on the back nine to seal the title as players in the
leader group generally find it difficult to make too many
birdies on the back nine during the final round.
"That`s exactly what happened today since the three
players in the leader group (Amardip Sinh Malik, Mandeo Singh
Pathania and Harendra Gupta) found it tough to get back into
the game on the back nine," Lahiri said after the match.
C Muniyappa (72, 69, 72, 66), another Bangalore golfer,
produced the best round of the day to finish in second place
at nine under 279. His round of six under 66 was punctuated by
an eagle, six birdies and two bogeys. Muniyappa recovered from
the rough with his second shot (four iron) and then made a 30
feet putt to make eagle on the 15th.
Amardip Sinh Malik (70, 67, 71, 73) finished tied third
at seven under 281. Pathania (70, 63, 73, 75) and Ranjit Singh
Rathore (69, 70, 70, 72) joined Malik in tied third place.
Harendra Gupta slipped to sixth place as a result of his 78 in
round four. Mukesh Kumar was a further stroke behind in
seventh place. Angad Cheema of Shivalik Golf Course, who
finished overall tied 26th at five over 293, won the amateur
title as he was the only amateur to make the cut.
Bureau Report