Richard Karlberg of Sweden rounded off a superb week to lift his maiden Asian Tour title in style at the SAIL Open yesterday
Richard Karlberg of Sweden rounded off a superb week to lift his maiden Asian Tour title in style at the SAIL Open yesterday.
The Asian Tour rookie, who held the lead from the first round, closed with a superb six-under-par 66 for a winning aggregate of 20-under-par 268 and beat joint overnight leader India's Shiv Kapur by five shots at the Delhi Golf Club.
Kapur, playing on his home course, failed to end his five-year title drought as he signed off with a 71 in the US$300,000 Asian Tour event, which is in its third edition.
Local hero Jyoti Randhawa finished third on 274 after shooting a fine 68 while compatriot SSP Chowrasia and unheralded Shamim Khan finished fourth and fifth respectively.
Playing in only his second Asian Tour event, Karlberg got off to the best of starts with an opening birdie and then saved a hug putt for par from 15 feet on the second hole to keep his momentum.
"When I saved par on the second hole, I knew that was the turning point as my putter was hot," said the Karlberg, winner of the Swedish domestic tour Order of Merit in 2007.
Three consecutive birdies from the fifth hole saw the steady Swede lead by three at the turn but he was not on cruise mode yet as nerves crept in. "I can say I was more nervous after those three birdies than I was before. If you hit a bad tee shot, you can lose your ball and end up with a very high score," said the 23-year-old.
After an early birdie on the first hole, Kapur looked set to make a strong title push but a disappointing bogey on the third hole derailed his plans.
"There are key moments in a round and today it was my bogey on the third. If I had holed more putts I would have given myself a chance but I didn't. I'm going to be a gracious loser and tip my hat off to Richard as he played great," said Kapur, who has won once on the Asian Tour in 2005.
Randhawa, who has won four Asian Tour titles at the venerable Delhi Golf Club, closed with five birdies against one bogey and was pleased with his finish. "If someone told me I would finish third in the beginning of the week, I would have taken it," said the 2002 Asian Tour number one.
Leading final round scores: 268 Richard Karlberg (SWE) 65-69-68-66; 273 Shiv Kapur (IND) 67-72-63-71; 274 Jyoti Randhawa (IND) 70-68-68-68; 276 - S.S.P. Chowrasia (IND) 66-73-69-68; 278 Shamim Khan (IND) 67-69-69-73; 279 Gaganjeet Bhullar (IND) 68-72-68-71; 282 Sanjay Kumar (IND) 72-70-74-66; 283 Lam Chih Bing (SIN) 70-71-73-69; 284 Danny Chia (MAS) 70-71-69-74;u00a0 Marcus Both (AUS) 71-71-71-71
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