Ajeetesh Sandhu
Chandigarh’s Ajeetesh Sandhu lost in a sudden death playoff to Thailand’s Nitithorn Thippong at the US$500,000 first DGC Open presented by Mastercard when he managed a par 5 against a comfortable two putt birdie by the 25 year old Thai, a first time Asian Tour winner.
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Sandhu all but had the title in his grasp as he stood two ahead with two holes to play in the final round. However a slightly pushed 7 iron on the par 3 17th found the bushes right of the green and Sandhu relinquished the lead with a double bogey 5.
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Both Thippong and Sandhu birded the par 5 18th with nerve wracking putts of 8 and 5 feet respectively before Thippong hit a brilliant 275 yard approach to 10 feet on the first playoff hole (the 18th) and when Sandhu’s 18 ft birdie try missed, Thippong took the title and the the winner’s cheque of US$90,000.
This was 33-year-old Ajeetesh Sandhu’s fifth second-place finish on the Asian Tour. He earned US$ 55,000 (₹ 42 lacs) and next appears at the US$ 500,000 Asian Mixed Championship, a first of its kind event hosted by the Ladies European Tour and Asian Tour in Thailand next month. He also looks forward to playing on the Japanese Tour in May.
Chandigarh’s Gaganjeet Bhullar, nine-time winner on the Asian Tour, finished fourth at 4-under 284 while Yuvraj Sandhu shot the day’s best score of 5-under 67 to jump to tied-5th along with Shiv Kapur who shot 68 despite a double bogey on the 17th. Also on -2 were Sri Lankan Mithun Perera and 36 hole leader Veer Ahlawat.
Credits:-
Photo – Asian Tour