Veer Ahlawat posted a final hole eagle to finish T-2nd in the tournament
The 26-year-old, 6 ft 3 inches tall, Veer Ahlawat of Gurgaon, who has been a consistent performer in the past two years on the Asian Tour, provided the home fans with the spark they needed with an electrifying birdie, par and eagle finish to vault up into a tie for 2nd place at 13 under par after rounds of 69-66-69-71.
Ahlawat thrilled the crowd with a 206 yard 6 iron approach over water on the long par 5 , 18th to 18 feet and then made the double breaking downhill putt that jumped him into the 2nd place tie, the best finish by an Indian at the tournament since Chawrasia won in 2017.
The young Veer, who was recently married, made ₹1.38cr for his efforts, with the final putt making a US$ 45,337 difference to his cheque.
Ahlawat, had finished 5th at the previous week’s European Challenge Tour event in Kolkata and made full use of his home course advantage, where he had finished 13th at the 2023 Hero Indian Open.
Fans are hoping this spark will propel the promising Veer to greater heights on the Asian Tour in 2024, where the Indian challenge has been lacklustre in recent years.
Photo – Hero Indian Open