Hard-earned
Up by two strokes on the 18th hole, Amardip Sinh Malik sliced his drive into the trees on the right of the fairway. With Kapil Kumar hard on his heels, Malik pitched out back onto the fairway and landed his approach shot on the edge of the green.
Kumar was on in two and Malik’s missed par putt meant the DGC golfer could take the battle to a playoff with a birdie putt. That was not to be and under immense pressure, the tenacious Malik, who had run his first putt past the hole, calmly slotted it home to emerge winner of the ONGC Masters at his home course, the Noida Golf Course, near here on a warm Saturday. Malik shot a four-over76 in round four but still came through by one stroke at 12under-276 to pocket his second title, and `7,50,000.
Kumar had an even-par-72 to finish runner-up at 11-under-277 at the `50 lakh event, while Bengaluru’s R. Murthy (69), with a bogey-free round, and Om Prakash Chouhan (71) of Mhow finished tied third at 10-under278.
Malik (66-66-68-76), the overnight leader by five shots, didn’t have it easy in his final round but still managed to stay ahead of the chasing pack to end a three-year victory drought. The 32-year-old began the day with a birdie but ran into trouble on the second where he dropped two strokes after his putt lipped out and came back towards him. He dropped a couple of more strokes but continued to soak up the pressure and keep the lead before closing it out on the final hole. He also moves up from 11th to sixth place in the PGTI Order of Merit.
A relieved Malik said, “It wasn’t an easy win. I had a poor start and also had my nervous moments. But these things do happen when you’re playing in the leader group during the final round. One has to be prepared for such situations. But I’m happy that I kept my nerve and fought till the end.
“The NGC is my home course and I love coming back here. I have a terrific record here. Winning here is always special. I’ve had a gradual progression over the last few events. I had three top-10s including a runnerup finish in the last four events. It all built up nicely for me. I knew a win was around the corner.”
Vikrant Chopra, who finished fifth at nine-under-279, and Rahul Bajaj, who secured tied eighth at seven-under-281, were the other two Noida-based golfers to claim top-10 finishes.