Nakajima wins Hero Indian Open with record score, India’s Ahlawat comes second
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Gurugram: Keita Nakajima was virtually no threat at the USD 2.25 million Hero Indian Open as he won by four shots and recorded a winning total of 17-under, three better than the winning score of 2023.
By Germany’s Marcel Siem, who was injured and could not defend his title this year. Nakajima’s victory was never in doubt, it was only about the margin of victory. At one point, Nakajima was tied ninth in the field, but eventually finished four shots ahead to take his first DP World Tour title at DLF Golf & Country Club.
After touching 21-under after eight holes on the final day, he hit a double bogey and three bogeys in the final five holes along with one birdie to leave him at 17-under and four shots ahead of three players, including India. K Veer Ahlawat, American Johannes Veerman and Sweden’s Sebastian Soderberg.
It was Nakajima’s fifth title after four on the Japanese Tour, including as an amateur, where he topped the 2023 Order of Merit to earn his DP World Tour card. There was much to cheer for local fans as local golfer Veer Ahlawat produced a stellar performance with eagle for a round of 1-under 71 after a mid-round run of four bogeys between the sixth and 14th holes.
The joint second-place finish was Ahlawat’s best performance on the DP World Tour and he should be in contention for the next event in Korea in a fortnight’s time. Ahlawat remained the top Indian for the second consecutive year after finishing joint-13th with Shubhankar Sharma (72) last year, who finished joint-31st this time.
Manu Gandas (71), who will play the DP World Tour in 2023, was the next best Indian, finishing just outside the top 10 at joint 11th, his best finish on the Tour. Apart from Ahlawat and Gandas, other Indians are Karandeep Kochhar (69) in joint-13, Shubhankar Sharma (72) in joint-31, Aman Raj (78) in joint-51, Jairaj Singh Sandhu (71) and Gaganjeet Bhullar (joint-51). 72 in 58) and Rashid Khan (78) in joint-65.
The post Nakajima won Hero Indian Open with record score, India’s Ahlawat finished second appeared first on Dainik Savera Times | Hindi News Portal.
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