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October 30th 2010, Bangalore: Bangalore’s Anirban Lahiri retained the BILT Open title after signing off with a steady two under 70 at the KGA on Saturday. Lahiri totaled 11 under 277 for the week to take home the winner’s cheque worth Rs. 1,616,500 that helped him climb from fourth place to first position in the 2010 Rolex Rankings. Amardip Sinh Malik of Meerut finished four strokes behind Lahiri to be the runner-up.

Anirban Lahiri (68-68-71-70) did not have an ideal start to his title defence on the final day of the BILT Open 2010. He began with a bogey on the first hole where he first found the trees and then the bunker. At this stage he was the joint leader along with Amardip Sinh Malik.

Lahiri went into a two-stroke lead after making birdies on the third and eighth where he sank putts from eight feet and six feet respectively. The defending champion found the water hazard on the 10th and as result dropped a bogey that reduced his lead to one stroke.

Anirban Lahiri

Lahiri was struggling with his hitting but he made up for that with his excellent short-game. A great example of this was his tremendous recovery on the par-five 11th, where he picked up a birdie. He hit a poor drive on the 11th which landed in the fairway bunker. However, he managed to salvage a birdie from there after finding the edge of the green in three shots and then sinking a 10 feet putt.

The Bangalore lad all but sealed it when he knocked-in a 25 feet birdie putt on the 15th that once again put him two strokes ahead. Lahiri finally went on to register a four-stroke win as Malik’s challenge faded away after he dropped bogeys on the last two holes.

“I was in poor hitting from today. Nevertheless, I remained focused and composed despite hitting those bad shots. Importantly, I didn’t give the lead away from the third hole onwards and matched both my partners shot by shot. I kept pushing myself through the round. The par putt that I sank from 25 feet on the second hole turned out to be very crucial at the end. Even though I won by four shots, the match was a lot closer than the scoreline suggests,” said Lahiri, who has now won five professional titles including three in the current Aircel PGTI season.

He added, “It’s great to defend a title. The BILT Open is one of the most prestigious events on the Aircel PGTI calendar and to win it two years in succession is quite special. It was very pleasing to see a huge gallery at the KGA today which included a lot of kids. Their support was quite encouraging.”

Amardip Sinh Malik (64-71-73-73) kept his title hopes alive as he made 10 straight pars and a birdie on the 11th. The birdie on the par-five 11th came after he hit the green in two shots. However, after Anirban opened up a two-stroke lead on the 15th, Amardip had to go for the pin and in the process he three-putted on the 17th and hit a wayward tee shot on the 18th. Malik thus ended up making bogeys on the last two holes.

Malik, whose runner-up finish helped him leapfrog from 27th to seventh position on the Rolex Rankings, said, “The putter was cold today but I’m quite pleased that I made as many as 23 pars on the last two days. I set up a few chances for myself today but the putts did not roll in.”

Vijay Kumar (70-70-70-72) ended third at six under 282 while Ajeetesh Sandhu was a further stroke behind in fourth place.

Ashok Kumar, Gaganjeet Bhullar, Himmat Singh Rai and Digvijay Singh shared fifth place at four under 284.

Local amateur Khalin Joshi, who finished overall tied 36th at nine over 297, won the prize for the best amateur score.