SSP Chowrasia saves his best for last, prevails in playoff to win third international title

New Delhi, November 9, 2014: India’s SSP Chowrasia saved his best for the last as he followed up an astounding six-under-66 in the final round with a gritty playoff performance to bag his third international title at the Panasonic Open India played at the Delhi Golf Club. Rahil Gangjee of India and PGTI member Mithun Perera of Sri Lanka finished joint runners-up after losing out in the playoff to Chowrasia at US$ 300,000 event cosanctioned by the Asian Tour and PGTI. The three players had earlier ended the regulation 72 holes with matching scores of 12-under-276.

Indian teenager Shubhankar Sharma came in fourth at 11-under-277. This was his best ever finish on the Asian Tour.  

SSP Chowrasia (70-71-69-66), who began the final day in tied 11th place, put up a fighting display on the final day to bag his first international title in three years. Chowrasia had a slow start to the day with a bogey on the third but then turned on the heat with birdies on the next three holes. He chipped-in from 30-feet for birdie on the fourth and landed it within four feet on the fifth and sixth.

SSP’s bogey on the eighth was a minor blip as he continued his surge with five birdies on the back-nine. The Kolkata-based professional, a winner of two European Tour titles, sank birdie putts from a range of 10 to 15 feet on the 10th, 12th, 16th and 17th. The 36-year-old finally won the playoff after sinking a 15-feet birdie putt even as Perera and Gangjee missed out on birdies.

Chowrasia said, “After the Avantha Masters, I was working hard for a win to boost my confidence. It’s been over three years since my last win. I take a lot of positives from the performance here.

“It never crossed my mind that I’ve lost a playoff at the DGC before. I was only focused on making the birdie putt in the first play-off hole. Whenever I lose something, I wait for something better to happen. I had the belief to win on the Asian Tour again.

“Even though I lost my card on the European Tour, I was high on confidence. I wanted to always come back on the Asian Tour and then fight my way back to the European Tour to regain my card. I learnt various shots on the European Tour and it was a great experience to play against the top players in Europe,” added an elated Chowrasia, who now has a win and seven other top-10s to his credit in 2014.

He summed up his final round performance, saying, “At the start of the day, I told myself that if I shoot a four or five-under, I will have the chance. I was looking to catch the leader all the time. I played very well on back-nine. The hat-trick of birdies on the 15th, 16th and 17th proved to be the turning point.” 

Rahil Gangjee (66-68-71-71), the overnight leader by one shot, dropped down the leaderboard with three bogeys on the first seven holes. However, he came back strongly with birdies on the eighth, ninth and an eagle on the 14th. Gangjee rolled it in from the fringe for eagle on the par-5 14th. He then missed out on a couple of short putts on the 16th and 17th, one for par and the other for birdie. The 36-year-old from Kolkata got into the playoff courtesy a birdie on the final hole. He then found the rough during the playoff and struggled to make birdie.

Gangjee said, “It's a learning process. I take a lot of positives from this week. It gives me the momentum for the rest of the season.”

He added, “I knew the momentum would swing through the final day and I just told myself to play normally and not to worry too much about the leaderboard. However, I missed out on a couple of chances towards the end and that just took the game away from me. It was a tough contest at the end with lot of contenders and SSP played the best golf to come through.”

Mithun Perera (70-67-69-70), playing in his first ever play-off on the Asian Tour, missed out on the chance to become the first Sri Lankan champion on the Asian Tour after narrowly missing a 10-footer birdie putt in extra time. He ended the day with a 70 highlighted by two opening birdies.

“Everybody had a chance to win today. I did good but Chowrasia but played better than all of us. I’m happy with my finish. I’m so excited to be in the play-off. Now I believe I can do something on the Asian Tour. I will try and get one trophy this year,” said the bubbly 27-year-old.

Shubhankar Sharma (73-65-68-71) posted a memorable fourth place finish after ending up with a total of 11-under-277. His final round included three birdies and two bogeys. Shubhankar missed out an opportunity of making it into the playoff after he failed to convert a 15-footer for birdie on the closing 18th. His fourth place finish meant the top-4 featured all PGTI members with three of them being Indians.

Shubhankar said, “I learnt a lot this week. I never imagined I would be in contention on the final day when I started the tournament. The important thing was that I didn’t take too much pressure on myself till the very end and was well-focussed.”

PGTI member Md Siddikur Rahman claimed tied fifth place at 10-under-278 while Rashid Khan, who finished 10th at eight-under-280, made it four Indians in the top-10.

Mr. Padamjit Sandhu, Director, PGTI, said, "Our heartiest congratulations to SSP Chowrasia for his remarkable win. We've had three Indian winners in the last four years of the Panasonic Open India. What more can Indian professional golf ask for. Indian golf continues to consolidate as our professionals keep winning titles on a regular basis. We have a strong Indian presence on the Asian Tour Order of Merit this year as well courtesy the consistent performances of our players."

A PGTI Press release