Jaipur, 16 November (IANS). Sachin Baisoya made a spectacular comeback by winning the marathon playoff against Rashid Khan in the Rs 1 crore Rajasthan Tourism Presents Jaipur Open 2024, played at the par-70 Rambagh Golf Club in Jaipur.
Both Delhi professionals Sachin Baisoya (65-65-64-64) and Rashid Khan (64-68-61-65) entered the playoff with equal scores of 22-under 258 in the regulation 72 holes. After this, there was a fierce competition between the two in the playoff, which lasted for five extra holes. 29-year-old Sachin won the title with a birdie conversion of three feet after an excellent tee shot on the par-3 second hole.
Baisoya, appearing in his first playoff, on Saturday won the third title of his career, which fetched him prize money of Rs 15 lakh, moving him from sixth to fifth position in the Tata Steel PGTI rankings.
Chandigarh’s Akshay Sharma (67), Hyderabad’s Milind Soni (69) and Delhi’s Kshitij Naveed Kaul (70) finished tied for third at 16-under 264.
Jaipur’s Prakhar Asawa finished tied 43rd with a score of three-under 277. Sachin Baisoya, who was in third place overnight and two points off the lead, made the previous day’s joint best score of 64, taking him into the playoff. After a slow start, Sachin opened his account with an eagle on the eighth hole and then made five birdies at the cost of just one bogey on the back-nine as both his hitting and short-game were excellent. Baisoya booked his place in the playoff after a huge birdie conversion from 35 feet on the 18th hole.
Rashid Khan, who was tied for second overnight and one shot off the lead, mixed six birdies and a bogey during his 65 on Saturday. He found a water hazard on the 18th hole but made a sensational recovery with an up and down to save par and make the playoff.
On the first four playoff holes, which were all played on the par-5 18th hole, both players were tied as they competed with each other for shots, including a 35-foot par by Rashid on the first extra hole. The action then moved to the par-3 second hole for the fifth extra hole. While Rashid found the bunker with his tee shot, Sachin landed it within three feet of the flag. Rashid’s extraordinary bunker shot that stopped four feet short of the hole was not enough as Sachin holed his birdie putt from three feet to win the playoff and the title.
The five-hole playoff encounter just missed equaling the PGTI record of six holes in the playoff played between Adil Bedi (winner) and Udayan Mane at Tollygunge Club, Kolkata in 2020.
Arjun Prasad, leader after the first three rounds, shot 76 on the fourth day and finished 14th at 12-under 268.
Sukhraj Singh Gill, who hit a hole-in-one on the 11th hole in Thursday’s second round, won Nissan’s recently updated new Magnite for his efforts. Sukhraj received the keys of the new Nissan Magnite from Rajesh Srivastava, Head of Marketing Communications, Nissan India, during the prize distribution ceremony of the tournament on Saturday.
–IANS
RR/
