India's Chowrasia wins Panasonic Open

S.S.P Chowrasia of India posing with the trophy after winning of the Panasonic Open India at the Delhi Golf Club in New Delhi. (AFP/Khalid Redza)

NEW DELHI: Shiv Chowrasia of India clinched his third Asian Tour title when he defeated compatriot Rahil Gangjee and Mithun Perera of Sri Lanka in the play-off to win the Panasonic Open on Sunday.

Chowrasia, who began the final round five shots off the lead, made a remarkable comeback by rolling in a 15-foot birdie in the play-off to win the US$300,000 event at the Delhi Golf Club.

The 36-year-old, whose final-round score of six-under-par 66 included eight birdies, said he was delighted to win a Tour title after three years. "I worked very hard for this win because I wanted to boost my confidence," Chowrasia said. "It is three years since I last won and I will take a lot of positives from the win.

"I've lost in two play-offs before but that never crossed my mind. I was focused on making the birdie putt in the play-off. I always had the belief that I could win on the Asian Tour again and I did."

Gangjee, who finished with a 71 in the final round, rued his inability to win his second Asian Tour title after leading for the first three days. "I knew the momentum would swing through the final day and I told myself to play normally and not to worry too much about the leaderboard," Gangjee said.

"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 in the end but SSP (Chowrasia) played the best golf to come through."

Perera squandered a chance to become the first Sri Lankan to win on the Tour when he narrowly missed a 10-foot birdie in the play-off. "Everybody had a chance to win today," the 27-year-old Perera said. "I did good but Chowrasia played better than all of us. But I now believe I can do something on the Tour. I will try and get one trophy this year."

Leading scores after the final round at the par-72 Delhi Golf Club:

276 - Shiv Chowrasia (IND) 70-71-69-66, Mithun Perera (SRI) 70-67-69-70, Rahil Gangjee (IND) 66-68-71-71

277 - Shubhankar Sharma (IND) 73-65-68-71

278 - Akinori Tani (JPN) 71-72-67-68, Unho Park (AUS) 69-71-68-70, Siddikur Rahman (BAN) 70-67-69-72

279 - Jazz Janewattananond (THA) 69-70-71-69, Panuphol Pittayarat (THA) 70-68-69-72

280 - Rashid Khan (IND) 68-70-71-71