October 6th 2012, Mumbai, India: Harendra Gupta of Chandigarh got the better of Delhi’s Rashid Khan in a playoff to win the CG Open 2012 at the Bombay Presidency Golf Club (BPGC) on Saturday.Gupta and Khan had ended the regulation 72 holes with matching totals of 13-under-267 before they headed for the playoff.
Harendra Gupta (65-66-70-66) displayed some excellent iron-play to come through on the final day at the Rs. 1 crore event.Harendra, who was two strokes off the lead in tied third position after round three, got his act together early in the fourth round. The 28-year-old found the green on the par-5 fourth hole in two shots to set up his first birdie of the day. He then landed his approach shot within a few inches of the cup for birdie on the ninth. His birdie on the 10thgave him the sole lead. From then on it was a two-horse race between Gupta and Rashid Khan (69-65-66-67).
Gupta suffered a major setback when he double-bogeyed the 14th after an inaccurate tee shot.He thus dropped back to level terms with Khan at a total score of 10-under.While Gupta went on to birdie the 16th, Khan garnered birdies on the 16th and 17th to go one-stroke ahead. However, there was another twist in the story as Harendra made a magnificent eagle from six feet on the 18th to regain the lead. Rashid also birdied the 18thto force a playoff.
Rashid then missed a three-footer for birdie on the first playoff hole (18th hole) even as Harendra earned the all-important birdie to win his sixth professional title which also happened to be his second of the season.
After earning the highest prize money cheque of his career (Rs. 16,16,500), Harendra has now climbed from ninth position to number one on the 2012 Rolex Rankings. Runner-up Rashid Khan, who made five birdies against two bogeys in his final round, climbed from fifth place to second on the Rolex Rankings. Shamim Khan, on the other hand, slipped from first to third.
Gupta said, “This is one of the most satisfying moments in my golfing career as this is my biggest win.It’s turned out to be a great season as I have now won two titles in 2012. The change of irons has helped my game a lot. I have been shooting very good scores this year and have been very consistent. My iron-play was excellent today. I hit it close and didn’t lose focus through the day. I kept my composure in the playoff and things worked out for me.”
Indian star SSP Chowrasia (68-67-68-68) of Kolkata finished third at nine-under-271 while another Kolkata golfer Shankar Das claimed fourth place six-under-274.
