Back-to-back win for Randhawa

Theory said otherwise, but, after closest contender Lam Chih Bing bogeyed the 17th to fall two strokes back, Jyoti Randhawa knew the title was sealed.

Theory said otherwise, but, after closest contender Lam Chih Bing bogeyed the 17th to fall two strokes back, Jyoti Randhawa knew the title was sealed.

Finishing in style 8212; and after last week8217;s thrilling play-off win at the Indian Open, photo-finishes seem to have become his trademark 8212; Randhawa hit a beautiful birdie from 10 feet for his second back-to-back win, this one at the Rs 70 lakh BILT Open. He finished at 15 under, the existing course record of 8 under Shiv Kapur, 2002 having been eclipsed early.

It could not have been a better start for the Professional Golf Tour of India, with their star attraction winning the inaugural tournament.

Leading by one stroke when play started on the final day, Randhawa made his intentions clear right away 8211; agonisingly missing an eagle chance on the par-five second hole, the ball rolling long, just past the hole.

The two blips on the scorecard came in close succession 8212; missing a putt from 3 feet on the sixth and failing to save par after getting into the left bunker on the eighth. That brought him level with Lam, playing in the same group, whose two birdies 8212; on the 3rd and the 6th 8211; were somewhat offset by a bogey on a disastrous fourth hole, where near misses cost him dear.

He could have come level after birdying the par-five 12th, but Randhawa8217;s chip from the right bunker landed four feet away, and he made the putt with ease to go 14-under.

Randhawa then held on till the last hole, Lam8217;s miss on the 17th put the writing on the wall.

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8220;It was only in the last three holes that the thought off winning entered my mind. All through, I tried to focus on just the shot I was playing, and that was the key,8221; Randhawa said after the win.

8220;The greens were tough to read and the pin positions were set as tough as tournaments on the US Tour, so it definitely wasn8217;t easy. But last week has given me a lot of confidence, and that carried forward.8221;

SSP Chowrasia and Rahul Ganapathy 8212; both three strokes behind on 9-under when fourth round started 8212; never came close enough to be in contention. Chowrasia, runner-up to Randhawa at the Indian Open, had an ordinary day of putting. An uneventful first ten holes were followed by a bogey on the 11th, but he recovered with two back-to-back birdies on the 12th and the 13th. Another birdie on the 15th was cancelled with a bogey on the 17th 8211; the day8217;s card reading one-under, and finishing with a ten-under.

Rahul Ganapathy, who had been in tied-lead after the second round, completely crumbled under the final day8217;s pressure, returning a card of 2-over par, with a double-bogey on just the third and five further bogeys.

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Shiv Kapur carried his fabulous recovery after a 3-over first round to be 4-under for the day and finishing tied fifth with Ganapathy, Digvijay Singh and amateur Chiragh Kumar 7-under.

The win left Randhawa richer by Rs 11,34,000 .

8226; Leaderboard: 273 8212; Jyoti Randhawa 66, 70, 68, 69; 276 8212; Lam Chih Bing 70, 68, 67, 71, 278 8212; SSP Chowrasia 70, 65, 72, 71, 280 8212; Harmeet Kahlon 66, 72, 71, 71; 281 8212; Digvijay Singh 70, 71, 69, 71, Rahul Ganapathy 66, 69, 72, 74, Shiv Kapur 8212; 75, 66, 72, 68; Chiragh Kumar A 69, 66, 75; 282 8212; Amandeep Johl 70, 68, 73, 71, Uttam Singh Mundy 68, 74, 71, 69; Himmat Singh Rai A 68, 69, 74, 71.