New Delhi, 20-03-2016

SSP Chawrasia shoots tenacious 71 to be crowned 2016 Indian Open champion

Lahiri is joint second; Rashid, Shiv, Rahil also in top-10

A tenacious performance at the Delhi Golf Club (DGC) on Sunday saw India's SSP Chawrasia finally capture the much-cherished Indian Open crown, a title that had eluded him for long.

Chawrasia, who started the day two clear of Aussie Terry Pilkadaris (76) and four clear of compatriots Anirban Lahiri (69) and Rashid Khan (72), delivered a gritty final round of one-under-71, including a superb birdie on 18th, to end up with a winning tournament total of 15-under-273. 

SSP thus broke his jinx at his National Open where he had previously finished runner-up on four occasions. Chawrasia won US $ 276,660 in prize money on Sunday. He also got his European Tour card back and almost sealed his berth to the Olympic Games as the second Indian after Anirban Lahiri.

Anirban Lahiri, the 2015 champion, fell short of defending his title, as his solid last round of 69 could only help him finish in tied second along with Korea's Jeunghun Wang at 13-under-275.

Rashid Khan in tied sixth at 10-under-278 and Shiv Kapur and Rahil Gangjee a further stroke back in tied 10th, made it five Indians in the top-10 at the US$1.66 million event sanctioned by the Asian Tour and European Tour.

Chawrasia had finished second in this event four times, including last year when Lahiri defeated him in a play-off. But on Sunday Chawrasia held his nerve down the stretch to claim a third European Tour title by two shots. It was also his fourth Asian Tour win.

Lahiri had held a tie for the lead after the sixth – Lahiri was three-under and Chawrasia was one-over at that stage for the final round.

On the tense 18th, Chawrasia hit a poor second shot but a brilliant third shot that gave him a birdie chance from three feet. Lahiri, needing to be one better than Chawrasia on the final hole to force a play-off, hit the board at the sponsor’s marquee and managed only a par, while Chawrasia birdied to win by two.

The win sees the 37 year old reclaim his European Tour playing privileges, which he narrowly lost last season after finishing 113th on The Race to Dubai.

“It is a very important day for me. I have finished second four times in the Indian Open and every time that happened to me I wondered if I would ever be able to be the champion. 

“This year, I came believing I had to win. I knew that I could do it.  There was a lot of pressure on me on the last hole but I had to say thank God when Anirban missed his birdie putt!  Played a great chip there and then when he missed I knew I would win the tournament,” said Chawrasia.

He added, “I think every Indian player looks at this tournament as the biggest. It is our national championship and a huge honour for me. Also, I think I have now qualified for the Olympics and the world cup and all of that was going around in my mind when I was playing today. It was a lot of pressure but I can relax and enjoy it now. My main goal was the Olympics so I am so happy. I am not sure how we will celebrate but I will leave that for my wife to take care of. She is very happy.”

Chawrasia, now a winner of four international titles including three on the European Tour, also thanked Indian golfing legend Jeev Milkha Singh for his sound advice, ahead of the final round.

“After finishing my third round I was pretty tense. So, I called Jeev (Milkha Singh), because he has won so much, I wanted some advice from him about how to go about the final round. I followed his advice and just kept my game together. He told me not to get tensed and get over aggressive even if someone hits four or five birdies. He also told me to play just like I had played over the past three days and I would win the tournament.  I felt that he had given me the key to win the tournament. So, a big thanks to Jeev sir.”

Anirban Lahiri posed a threat to Chawrasia for a major part of the day, but couldn’t close the gap on the latter towards the end. Lahiri missed a chip-putt for birdie on the last hole where Chawrasia sealed it with a birdie.

Lahiri said, “It was pretty intense. I got off to a great start but lost a bit of momentum after that. I gave myself a lot of chances but missed quite few from 15-20 feet but at the end of day, SSP hung tough and played very well. I made that put on the third and thought that was a great time to hole a long putt because I hadn’t made many this week. I just lost a bit of ground around the turn on eight and nine and then the back nine is so tight. But I enjoyed it nonetheless.

“It’s not quite as painful, put it that way. But there is nothing sweeter than being the Indian Open champion. It was a disappointing finish after a promising start for me. But I am so happy for SSP. This win is huge for him. We were tied for second three years ago, he was second last year and has been second four time at this tournament so it’s great for him to win and lock down the Olympics and everything else that comes with it. I am really pleased for him.”