Birdie blitz helps Ahlawat to sensational Jaipur Open victory

Veer Ahlawat (second from right) receives his trophy and check from Victorious Choice joint MD Suyash Patodia and owner Rahul Mehta (third and fourth from left), Shubhashish Homes chairman JK Jajoo (third from right) and PGTI president Kapil Dev at the Rambagh Golf Club in Jaipur on Friday. Image courtesy of PGTI.

By Rahul Banerji

Five shots off the lead, Veer Ahlawat unleashed a birdie barrage on a red-hot putter to overtake runaway leader Yuvraj Sandhu and win the Jaipur Open at Rambagh Golf Club on Friday.

Ahlawat, a 2024 Order of Merit winner, spent much of the year on the DP World Tour and played only his fifth event on the PGTI schedule this season.

Ranked fourth overnight, Ahlawat equaled his low score of 8-under-par 62 in the tournament on Friday for the sensational result at the Rs 1 crore presented by the Victorious Choice event powered by Shubhashish Homes, the PGTI said.

Gurgaon-based Ahlawat (67-62-70-62) had a total of 19-under 261 this week to take his fifth title and a winner’s purse of Rs 15 lakh, moving up from 38th position.^e to 18^e in the PGTI Order of Merit.

His bogey-free round on Friday also helped him break the record for the lowest win total on the Rambagh course of 16 under 24, held by Sanjay Kumar at a PGTI event in 2011.

Sandhu (65-63-66-68), the leader by three shots after round three, shot a 68 on the final day with five birdies and three bogeys to move into second at 18-under 262.

Bigger lead

The OoM leader took off Rs 10 lakh to extend his lead in the PGTI Ranking to over Rs 33 lakh with a seasonal income of Rs 1,31,67,100.

Shaurya Bhattacharya shot a 64 to take third place at 15 under 265 and remain second in the race of the season.

Ahlawat returned to play the PGTI a few weeks ago and immediately impressed with a third-place finish in Pune and Digboi, the last two events of the tour.

On Friday, the lanky Ahlawat stole the heat from the rest of the field by posting his second score of 62 this week.

He was slow to get off the blocks and his first two birdies didn’t come until holes six and eight. However, six birdies on the back nine, including a crucial 14-footer on 17 and another on 18, left him with a clubhouse target of 19 under.

Playing in the final group, Sandhu dropped shots on both closing par-5s only to see his day’s lead slip away at the very end after pulling his approach shot on 18 from a tricky spot on the greenside bunker.

His third shot went over the green into the sandbox on the other side and Sandhu still could have set up a play-off, but missed his par putt from about 10 feet and settled for second place.

Swing tweak

Ahlawat, from DLF Golf & Country Club, later said: “I discovered something new in my swing earlier this week that has really helped my driving.

“That was the best part of my game during the week. I also hit it close for most of the last round. The putts weren’t rolling in for me on the front nine, but on the back nine I holed almost every putt.

“The game-changer for me was the 17^e where I played a bad chip shot but still managed to sink a long putt to save a birdie.

“The experience of playing on the DP World Tour has been very useful in terms of the international exposure I have received. This win now gives me the confidence to end the season on a high.”

Sandhu, a five-time winner in the current PGTI season, mixed five birdies with a bogey until the 16th^e to lead most of the day.

However, he missed putts on the final two holes for consecutive bogeys that saw his challenge fade.

Jaipur-based professionals Prakhar Asawa (1 out of 281) and Hemendra Choudhary (2 out of 282) finished tied for 45th^e and 47^e respectively.

Also read: Sandhu opens three-shot lead over Moving Day at Jaipur Open

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