Anirban Lahiri of Bengaluru gave himself a birthday present a day in advance when he edged past Delhi’s Shamim Khan in a playoff to win the PGTI Players Championship at the Oxford Golf & Country Club in Pune on Saturday.
After the end of the 72 holes, the two golfers were tied at a total of 10-under-278 and Lahiri clinched the title with a birdie in the playoff hole against Khan’s par effort.
Lahiri (70-68-71-69), who was overnight fourth and three strokes off the lead, fired five birdies against two bogeys in his final round of 69. He began the day on a positive note by driving the green on the par-4 second hole and subsequently earning a birdie there. The three-time winner on the Asian Tour then found the green in two shots on the par-5 fourth hole to pick up another birdie. Lahiri went through a rough patch on the fifth and the sixth holes where a couple of erratic approach shots resulted in bogeys.
He, however, got back into the groove with a birdie on the ninth hole. He hit a poor tee shot on the 13th but recovered well with a great second shot and a 15-feet birdie putt to gain further momentum. Lahiri drew level with Khan for the lead after the former chipped within a foot to set up a birdie on the 15th hole.
Lahiri prevailed on the first playoff hole (ninth hole) as Shamim struggled to recover after landing his tee shot in the rough. The eventual winner found the fairway with his tee shot and then landed his third shot within a foot of the pin to bag a birdie on the par-5 hole.
The Bengaluru-based golfer thus lifted his 11th professional title which also happened to be his eighth on the PGTI circuit.