It was an unusual sight at the DLF Golf and Country Club course with the winner away from the grandstand when the €1.8 million Avantha Masters title was decided on Sunday afternoon.
Amid rising tension and pressure of the adrenaline flowing, England's Robert Coles faltered dramatically at the threshold of victory on the 18th green and left S.S.P. Chowrasia celebrating at the driving range.
It was as though Coles had surrendered to the silent prayers of the vast majority present around the final hole. Nearly 45 minutes after Chowrasia finished with a second successive five-under 67 to tally 15-under 273, joint-leader Coles was standing on the 18th green, looking to chip-and-putt for his maiden European Tour title.
Much to the delight of the partisan gallery, Coles's firmly struck chip flew past the hole and stopped at the fringe. His nervous first putt went off the middle of the putter and rolled past the flag again.
Coles now needed a par-putt from about eight feet to force a play-off, but missed it by a whisker. The resultant bogey brought Coles down a stroke and triggered off celebrations all around, with Chowrasia being chaired by his friends at the driving range where he was preparing in anticipation of a play-off since all other contenders had faded away.
The triumph was worth €300,000 along with a diamond-studded trophy. This was the 32-year-old Kolkatan's second European Tour title following the 2008 Indian Masters in New Delhi. Interestingly, on both occasions, Chowrasia's final-round tally was five-under 67 that pushed the third-round leader to the second spot.
Elated
The ever-smiling Chowrasia was elated, but was quick to put the triumph into perspective. “Honestly, I thought Coles could have won had he not missed short putts on the 15th and the 17th. After watching him miss from so close, I went to the driving range thinking of a possible play-off.
“I thought I had things under control after the front nine and then at 17-under after 15. Thereafter, I hit a bad tee-shot on the 16th that led to a double-bogey. But I was still confident of a birdie-birdie finish on the last two holes,” said Chowrasia, whose seven birdies on the final day ranged from 10 feet to 40 feet.
In the end, Chowrasia was not left to rue the double-bogey on the 16th hole that brought him down to 15-under and tied with Coles. And for Coles, the missed birdie-putt from under five feet was sure to haunt him since it would have given him a one-stroke lead coming in to the final hole.
The scores: S.S.P. Chowrasia (70, 69, 67, 67) 273; Robert Coles (Eng) (70, 67, 67, 70) 274; Gregory Havret (Fra) (72, 67, 68, 68) 275; Robert-Jan Derksen (Ned) (66, 73, 68, 69) 276; Pablo Larrazabal (Esp) (69, 70, 66, 72), Sujjan Singh (69, 69, 68, 71) 277; Chinnarat Phadungsil (Tha) (70, 68, 71, 69), Mark Haastrup (Den) (71, 66, 68, 73) 278; Angelo Que (Phi) (71, 68, 68, 72) & Shiv Kapur (72, 65, 72, 70) 279.
Other Indians: Shamim Khan (74, 67, 70, 69); Jeev Milkha Singh (68, 67, 70, 75) 280; Jyoti Randhawa (73, 71, 72, 67) 283; Chirag Kumar (73, 70, 69, 74) 286; Rashid Khan (68, 76, 70, 74)288; Gaganjeet Bhullar (74, 69, 72, 74) 289; C. Muniyappa (73, 71, 76, 73) 293; Mandeo Singh Pathania (72, 71, 81, 74) 298.
