Chowrasia leads late charge to win Panasonic Open after playoff
NEW DELHI: On any golfing Sunday, a peculiar problem surfaces — of the 60-odd in action, who does one follow? Granted, after 54 holes, not everyone is vying for the title. But if, like the Panasonic Open at the Delhi Golf Club, there happen to be five golfers within a stroke of each other going into the final round, one is spoilt for choice.
The resolution depends on the category one belongs to. For spectators, it’s a matter of choice. It’s trickier for scribes, though — the story of how the winner won has to be told.
As one watched Rahil Gangjee summon a rules official on the first fairway, one wondered what just transpired in the group before this. Turns out Gangjee, the overnight leader, had just been joined by two others — Mithun Perera and defending champion Wade Ormsby, both draining birdies on the opener. Then came Siddikur; next, Shubhankar Sharma.
It wasn’t until 3pm that there emerged a leader from a group other than the final two, Unho Park becoming the sixth to lead. The group playing immediately ahead of Park’s, not many bothered with. It was too far down the pecking order to be of anything except academic interest for most spectators, especially those out here on a Sunday to do a job. Except a handful egging on Rashid Khan, and Simantini Chowrasia, wife of the day’s seventh leader.
That not too many eyes were on him — including those of his significant other, who refuses to watch his crucial putts as she is “more tense than I am” — probably helped SSP as he drained three 15-footer birdies in four holes. The last of those came in a three-way playoff with Gangjee and Perera, and gave him his third Asian Tour title.
Final scores: 276: SSP Chowrasia (70-71-69-66), Mithun Perera (7067-69-70), Rahil Gangjee (66-6871-71); 277 Shubhankar Sharma (73-65-68-71). Chowrasia won after playoff