Jyoti Randhawa wins Indian Open third time, equals record

Oct 15: Randhawa equals the feat of Australian Peter Thompson by winning it third time.

India’s Jyoti Randhawa wins the prestigious Indian open for the third time, equaling the record of Australian Peter Thomson, and leading all through the final round of the $500,000 Hero Honda Indian Open golf played at the Delhi Golf Club course here on Sunday.

Randhawa fashioned a crucial eagle on the 16th hole to retain the Indian Open Asian Tour title by three-under 69, which gave him a total tally of 13-under 275. This is Randhawa's third overall win after 2000 and 2006 that helped him to equal the feat of Peter Thomson, the Australian five-time British Open champion, who won the event in 1964, 1966 and 1976.

"This is a legendary win, equaling Peter Thomson's record," said Randhawa. "He won it three times and you winning your national open three times, feels too good.

"There was so much pressure, but I did a great job of keeping it out," he said.

Defending champion Randhawa first pushed aside an anxious joint overnight leader Chapchai Nirat and then, with a miraculous shot on the 16th hole, managed get past rising Chang Tse-peng to defend his tit1e.

Apart from Randhawa the other Indian winners of Indian Open are Biloo Sethi (Amateur) 1966, Ai Sher 1991, 1993, Feroz Ali 1998, Arjun Atwal 1999 and Vijay Kumar 2002.

Chang, 37, was second with India's Rahil Gangjee, who carded a superb final-round six-under 66 and Australian Mitchell Brown was fourth after a final-day 67.

Chapchai 24, carded a poor 76 on the final day, after leading on previous occasions, slipped to tied fifth with New Zealand's Mark Brown, Australian David Gleeson and Taiwan's Lu Went-teh with six-under scores.

Incidentally, Randhawa has won all five times he played in India in the past 12 months. His victories include two Indian Open titles and three titles on the domestic PGTI Tour. He now moves on to Portugal and Spain. “I will celebrate once I return home after three weeks,” said Randhawa.

Final Scores: Jyoti Randhawa (70, 69, 67, 69) 275; Chang Tse-Peng (Tpe) (68, 65, 77, 68) 278; Rahil Gangjee (71, 67, 76, 66) 280; Mitchell Brown (Aus) (74, 71, 69, 67) 281; Lu Wen Teh (Tpe) (68, 75, 67, 72), David Gleeson (Aus) (66, 68, 76, 72), Chapchai Nirat (Tha) (66, 67, 73, 76) and Mark Brown (Nzl) (71, 72, 64, 75) 282; Arjun Singh (73, 70, 71, 69), Ashok Kumar (68, 73, 73, 69) and S.S.P. Chowrasia (68, 71, 74, 70) 283; Peter Senior (Aus) (70, 70, 76, 68) 284; Jeev Milkha Singh (72, 74, 71, 68), Ross Bain (Sco) (69, 72, 73, 71) and Keith Horne (RSA) (71, 70, 73, 71) and Uttam Singh Mundy (70, 76, 68, 71) 285; Chinarat Phadungsil (Tha) (70, 70, 75, 71) and Mars Pucay (Phi) (70, 70, 74, 72) 286.

Other Indians: Vijay Kumar (72, 71, 71, 73) 287; Harinder Gupta (71, 74, 73, 70), Jaiveer Virk (73, 69, 73, 73) and Gaurav Ghei (66, 73, 70, 79) 288; Mukesh Kumar (73, 69, 77, 70) and Digvijay Singh (73, 70, 75, 71) 289; Chiragh Kumar (69, 74, 77, 71) 291; Gaganjeet Bhullar (71, 73, 74, 74), Harmeet Kahlon (71, 75, 72, 74) and Shammim Khan (68, 69, 77, 78) 292; Gurbaaz Mann (66, 76, 74, 77) 293; Rashid Khan (A) (74, 71, 74, 75) and Rahul Bakshi (A) (70, 73, 72, 79) 294; Gagan Verma (A) (72, 74, 78, 71) 295; Mohammad Islam (69, 77, 75, 75) 296; Firoz Ali (71, 74, 79, 73) 297; Amardip Malik (71, 74, 83, 71) 299; and Rahul Ganapathy (69, 76, 76, 79) 300.