Delhi’s Wasim Khan (74-71-71-73) won the PGTI’s Final Qualifying Stage for the 2018 season being held at the Kensville Golf & Country Club near Ahmedabad.
Wasim’s final round of one-over-73 saw him end up with a tournament tally of one-over-289 which helped him post a one-shot victory.
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Australia’s Kunal Bhasin (75-67-75-73) finished second at two-over-290 after he too shot a final round of 73.
At the end of round four, the top 38 players earned their cards for the 2018 PGTI season as the cut in the final round went at 13-over-301.
The top 38 included six amateurs. There were also eight foreigners among the 38 players who earned their full cards. The foreigners included three Bangladeshis, two South Africans, one Australian, one American and one Nepali.
Wasim Khan, who started the final day with a one-shot lead, had a quiet last round but still managed to emerge triumphant by one shot. The 26-year-old Khan, who had previously won one title at the junior level, had an early bogey on the second on Saturday but then strung together 11 pars followed by a birdie conversion from five feet on the 14th hole.
The professional from the Delhi Golf Club thereafter made some excellent par saves and salvaged a bogey from a tough position on the 17th where it could’ve easily gone wrong for him.
Wasim said, “The key to my success this week was the fact that I just enjoyed myself out there. Today, I didn’t really go for the pins but played regulation golf. It was a plan that had worked for me over the first three days as well.
“My driving and putting were solid. The exceptional up and down for bogey from 40 yards out on the 17th really helped my cause towards the end as the victory margin was just one shot.
“I’ll take a lot of confidence from this week into the 2018 season.”
Runner-up Kunal Bhasin, a three-time winner on the PGTI, also made a lone birdie and two bogeys in his fourth round.
American national Digraj Singh Gill claimed third place at three-over-291 while Bangladesh’s Md Ismail and Faridabad’s Ramesh Kumar were a further stroke behind in tied fourth.
Indian golfing legend Gaurav Ghei of Delhi secured sixth place at five-over-293.
The two other amateurs who finished inside the top-10 were Kolkata’s Sunit Chowrasia and Chennai’s Shivnaren Srinivasan. The duo ended the week in tied seventh at six-over-294 along with Vijay Kumar, Rajesh Kumar Rawat and Sahil Kulkarni.
