Delhi’s Shamim Khan upsets all calculations to win the Rs. 1 crore C.G. Open at the Bombay Presidency Golf Club (BPGC) on Saturday. The 38-year-old professional of 21 years, Khan sank a 35-foot putt for a birdie to finish the tournament deciding day with an unblemished eight-under-62 and for an overall 19 under-261, the lowest score for a four-round competition at the Chembur course.
The previous best at the BPGC was Jyoti Randhawa’s 18-under 261 in 2011. Khan has also taken the lead in the Rolex Ranking. Bengaluru’s Khalin Joshi with a final-round card of 65 ended the tournament at an overall 18-under-262 to win the runner up prize. Khan won Rs.15 lakhs as prize money and Joshi, Rs.10 lakhs..
Khan, trailing by two points at the conclusion of the third round, struck putting form in the second and fourth holes and again in the 10th,11th and 12th on the back nine and became the joint leader with Joshi and Kapil Kumar.
A jubilant Khan said: "It’s been an incredible week. I dropped just three bogeys in the whole tournament. I had lost my touch with the long range putts in the last few months, but it came back at the C.G. Open. I made three 15-footers today and two putts from 30 to 35 feet. That made all the difference.
"I knew I was in the race once I made three consecutive birdies on the 10th, 11th and 12th. But I decided not to check the leaderboard till the 17th. That worked for me. Once I saw I was two ahead after the 17th, I went for the birdie on the 18th.
"It’s great to win after so long. I owe a lot to my caddie ‘Gullu’ for this win. He was a great support. My ball-striking was also terrific through the week. I’m now looking to win my second Rolex Player of the year title after 2012.”
Leading scores (72 holes) 261: Shamim Khan (67-66-66-62), 262: Khalin Joshi (67-67-63-65), 265: Kapil Kumar (64-67-67-67).
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