Sports News | Parikh Beats Gangjee in Play-off to Clinch Haryana Open Title
Get latest articles and stories on Sports at LatestLY. Varun Parikh of Ahmedabad held his nerves to edge past Bengaluru's Rahil Gangjee in a traditional play-off to win the Haryana Open golf tournament here on Sunday.
Panchkula, Oct 20 (PTI) Varun Parikh of Ahmedabad held his nerves to edge past Bengaluru's Rahil Gangjee in a traditional play-off to win the Haryana Open golf tournament here on Sunday.
Parikh (64-71-67-69) succeeded over Gangjee (63-71-67-70) on the fourth play-off hole, bagging his second professional title after the two golfers had finished the regulation 72 holes with identical totals of 17-under 271.
The 26-year-old Parikh, hailing from Ahmedabad's Gulmohar Greens Golf Course, earned a prize money cheque worth Rs 15 lakh, therefore climbing from the 48th spot to 16th in the PGTI Ranking.
Dhruv Sheoran (67) of Gurugram finished third at 16-under 272, while the trio of Delhi's Sachin Baisoya (69), Chandigarh's Akshay Sharma (70) and Gurugram-based Veer Ahlawat (70) were tied fourth at 14-under 274.
Ahlawat extended his lead further in the PGTI Ranking, crossing the Rs 1 crore mark in the season's earnings.
Parikh, who began the final day in second position a shot behind the leader Gangjee, trailed the latter for most of the fourth round.
He had a slow start, making two birdies and two bogeys on the front nine, even as Gangjee made a birdie and a bogey.
Parikh then recovered well from the rough, making a 20-foot birdie conversion on the 10th before picking up another stroke on the 11th.
Gangjee added three birdies between the 10th and the 13th to stay ahead.
The tide began to turn in Parikh's favour when he sank a critical 30-footer for birdie on the 17th, while Gangjee dropped a bogey on the same hole. The two-shot swing meant both golfers had a tie for the lead.
Thereafter, Parikh made a clutch par putt from 10 feet on the 18th to take the match into a play-off.
Both the golfers maintained constant pars on the opening three play-off holes. However, on the fourth play-off hole, Gangjee missed a chip-putt from the back edge of the green, dropping a bogey, while Parikh made a comfortable par to emerge as the champion.
Parikh, having won his last pro title two years back, stated, "I was in a good mental space from the start of this week. I was quite calm and relaxed.
"Today, I feel the turning point was the 17th hole, where I made a 30-footer for birdie. That just gave me the much-needed momentum, which also helped me make that all-important par putt on the next hole to force the playoff.
"I'm delighted to have finally crossed the line after a two-year gap. In the play-off, I was striking it really well but not making the birdie putts, so that was quite frustrating. But, I told myself to keep fighting and not let go of the intensity," he added.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)