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Delhi golfer Shamim Khan wins Kolkata Classic Golf Championship
Shamim Khan, who turned professional in 1995 and who calls the Delhi Golf Club home, is the highest earner on the PGTI since it started in 2006
With an aggregate score of 10-under 278, Delhi’s Shamim Khan won the Rs 40 lakh Kolkata Classic Golf Championship by five strokes at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club (RCGC) on Friday. This was also Khan’s first title at RCGC and 13th overall. Try telling him now that the number is deemed unlucky by most!
With total earnings over Rs 3 crore, Shamim, who turned professional in 1995 and who calls the Delhi Golf Club home, is the highest earner on the PGTI since it started in 2006. He is also the current Order of Merit leader.
It was Khan’s average game around the greens that sealed the deal and a Rs 6 lakh prize purse with it. Fitting that it would be that way in the city SSP Chawrasia calls home for chipping and putting are the Indian Open champion’s strong suits. Finishing with a score of 5-under 283, Chawrasia ended sole second and took home Rs 4 lakh.
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Local golfer Shankar Das was third with a par-72 round and an overall score of four-under 284. He won R 2.39 lakh.
Like he had said after Thursday’s third round, Shamim aimed for and executed a steady first nine. With Mukesh Kumar, second overnight but finishing tied fourth at three-under 285, seeing his game disintegrating, symptomatic of which was a missed birdie putt on the 18th, all Shamim needed to do was keep things steady.
He did that and more, nearly sealing the deal with a 25-foot birdie putt. A lip-up meant he needed another shot before claps rang out. Shamim had birdies on the second, 12th and 15th holes and bogeys in the sixth and seventh. He also had under-par rounds in three of the four days.
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“He (Shamim) played pressure-free golf on the final day because we all played poorly. I can’t remember the last time someone won by such a big margin. I made a lot of mistakes and there wasn’t a single day that I could get a really low round. Had I managed one today too, I would have had a chance,” said Chawrasia who will now take a break before heading for Japan in the middle of next month.
Chawrasia said he would play back to back events in Japan and China, return to Kolkata for two days and head out to London for another European Tour event.
Final scores (top-3 with prize money)
Winner: Shamim Khan 10-under 278 (Rs 6 lakh). 2nd: SSP Chawrasia 5-under 283 (R 4 lakh). 3rd: Shankar Das 4-under 284 (Rs 2.39 lakh).
