Bangladeshi professional golfer Siddikur Rahman earned glory for the nation by winning a nerve-wracking one-stroke victory over local hopes SSP Chowrasia and Anirban Lahiri at the 50th Hero Indian Open on Sunday for his second career title on the Asian Tour.
Leading by four overnight, the tenacious Siddikur made life difficult for himself with a wobbly final round of three-over-par 75 at the Delhi Golf Club which allowed the chasing pack to breathe down his neck and apply the pressure, according to a message received here from New Delhi.
Siddikur, who led the Hero Indian Open from the opening round after what he termed as “playing the best golf of my life”, started strongly with birdies on the second and fifth holes but four bogeys over a six-hole stretch around the turn opened the door for his rivals to get close to him.
He steadied the ship with birdies on 13 and 14 but a calamitous triple bogey seven on 15 and another bogey on 16 ensured a dramatic and nervy finish.
But on the par three 17th, Sididikur nailed what would be the most important birdie of his tournament from 15 feet to regain a one-shot advantage as his rivals eventually missed opportunities to force a play-off.
Siddikur, who earned US$ 225,000, said: “I’m so happy. After I won in Brunei, I struggled to win a tournament. It was a long day for me but it’s been the best golf of my life this week. Honestly, I didn’t put pressure on myself but I had some bad shots for bogeys but I had a good feeling that I would win this tournament. The putt on 17 was certainly the winning putt.”
“I had a four-shot lead but on this golf course, I knew that Anirban (Lahiri) and SSP Chowrasia will not play it safe. They could have shot a low score. In that case, I didn’t play safe and continued playing aggressively.
“After winning Brunei in (2010), I was really hungry to win more tournaments but it didn’t happen. However, I still remained confident and I told myself that a big victory is coming my way. That big victory happened today,” smiled Siddikur.
Chowrasia, who has won twice previously at the fabled Delhi venue, agonisingly missed a five-foot birdie chance on the 72nd hole to force a play-off as Siddikur ended a three-year winless run following his career breakthrough at the 2010 Brunei Open.
Lahiri, who closed with a 70, shared second place with Chowrasia in the US$ 1.25 million tournament as he also rued a missed birdie chance on the last hole to force extra time in front of a large gallery, who were hoping to celebrate an Indian champion in the golden edition of the Hero Indian Open.
Scores after round 4 of the Hero Indian Open being played at the par 72, 6983 Yards Delhi Golf Club course (a- denotes amateur):
274 – SIDDIKUR RAHMAN (BAN) 66-66-67-75
275 – Anirban LAHIRI (IND) 71-67-67-70, SSP CHOWRASIA (IND) 69-68-66-72.
276 – BAEK Seuk-hyun (KOR) 69-69-70-68, Chiragh KUMAR (IND) 69-70-69-68, Angelo QUE (PHI) 69-68-67-72, Rashid KHAN (IND) 69-70-65-72.
277 – Unho PARK (AUS) 68-73-65-71.
278 – Chapchai NIRAT (THA) 66-68-77-67, Mithun PERERA (LKA) 70-72-68-68.
279 – Namchok TANTIPOKHAKUL (THA) 73-70-69-67, Sanjay KUMAR (IND) 70-68-72-69.
280 – Shiv KAPUR (IND) 75-66-71-68, Mardan MAMAT (SIN) 66-73-72-69, Antonio LASCUNA (PHI) 71-70-68-71, Adam GROOM (AUS) 69-67-70-74.
281 – Scott BARR (AUS) 71-70-69-71, Rahil GANGJEE (IND) 66-69-73-73.
282 – Carlos PIGEM (ESP) 66-77-70-69, Chawalit PLAPHOL (THA) 70-68-73-71, Shankar DAS (IND) 67-70-73-72, LEE Sung (KOR) 70-70-70-72, Jake HIGGINBOTTOM (AUS) 72-70-68-72.
283 – Daniel CHOPRA (SWE) 74-71-70-68, Abhinav LOHAN (IND) 70-72-72-69.
Source: UNBConnect
