Anirban Lahiri wins Hero Indian Open

Anirban Lahiri of India came through a playoff against his countryman S.S.P Chawrasia to win the Hero Indian Open at Delhi Golf Club in New Delhi.

Anirban Lahiri of India came through a playoff against his countryman S.S.P Chawrasia to win the Hero Indian Open at Delhi Golf Club in New Delhi.

Lahiri defeated Chawrasia at the first extra hole to claim a second European Tour title in the space of three weeks. He won the Maybank Malaysian Open just two weekends ago.

Lahiri went into the final round seven shots behind Chawrasia, but the deficit had been reduced to just one after the first five holes. Lahiri opened with two straight birdies and added a third at the 5th, while Chawrasia bogeyed the 3rd and doubled the 4th.

Lahiri went to the turn in 34 and kept his ship steady on the back nine, coming home in level-par 35 for a closing 69 and a four-round total of seven-under-par.

After producing three impeccable opening rounds, Chawrasia looked decidedly out of sorts through the closing 18. In the end, he posted a sloppy, five-over-par 76 to also finish the four rounds on seven-under.

The pair returned to the testing par-5 18th to settle the tournament via a playoff. Lahiri teed off first and found the left hand semi-rough. Chawrasia smothered his tee shot and it careered into the bushes on the left of the fairway.

He could only chip out sideways from there, and his third shot found the left hand rough, some 100 yards short of the green.

Lahiri laid up into perfect position then watched as Chawrasia fired his fourth shot through the green. Lahiri then played an excellent pitch to just left of the flag.

Chawrasia needed to hole out for a five to put pressure on his opponent. He very nearly chipped in, but the ball slid agonisingly past the right edge of the cup. That left Lahiri with two putts for the title, but he needed only one. He calmly rolled the ball home to win his home open.

“It’s incredible – starting today I didn’t really think I had a chance,” said Lahiri. “It was one of the toughest days ever that I’ve played golf at Delhi Golf Club and I’m really happy to have accomplished this: it’s a childhood dream. I was just trying to play well and give myself a chance on the back nine. There were about eight of us who could have pulled through so I feel really lucky and fortunate, and really happy.”

Australia’s Marcus Fraser took the lead after a birdie at the 11th hole saw him reach nine-under. But he finished poorly, dropping three shots in the last six. He ended the tournament tied third with Joakim Lagergren of Sweden, Thailand’s Prayad Marksaeng and Mithun Perera of Sri Lanka.

Siddikur Rahman of Bangladesh began the final round just two behind Chawrasia but, like the Indian, he struggled on the final day. He too closed with a 76 and dropped back into a tie for seventh place.

Hero Indian Open Delhi Golf Club, New Delhi, India Feb 19-22, purse: €1,325,000, par: 71

1    Anirban Lahiri (Ind)    73    65    70    69    277    €217,399 2    S.S.P Chawrasia (Ind)    65    67    69    76    277    €144,927 T3    Joakim Lagergren (Swe) 65    71    73    69    278    €61,959 T3    Mithun Perera (Sri)    67    72    70    69    278    €61,959 T3    Prayad Marksaeng (Tha) 68    70    69    71    278    €61,959 T3    Marcus Fraser (Aus)    69    70    67    72    278    €61,959 T7    Romain Wattel (Fra)    70    74    67    68    279    €33,653 T7    Richard McEvoy (Eng)    70    67    72    70    279    €33,653 T7    Siddikur Rahman (Ban)    65    68    70    76    279    €33,653 10    Paul Peterson (USA)    69    68    71    72    280    €26,088