Seldom does a player find himself in the lead more by default than by design and goes on to finish the campaign like a worthy champion. ‘Rookie' Rikard Karlberg did just that before a huge Sunday crowd at the Delhi Golf Club here.
For the better part of the day, Karlberg stayed a stroke off the lead. While overnight leader Baek Seuk-Hyun dropped three strokes by 12 holes and surprise leader Manav Jaini tumbled from 11-under to choke on the 16th and 17th, the Swede came up with a stunning birdie-birdie finish to seal the $1.25 million Hero Honda Indian Open golf title.
Making history
Karlberg, who turned 24 on Wednesday and started the day in the second spot, made history of sorts by becoming the first professional to come through the Qualifying School and win two titles in the same year at the same venue.
In April, Karlberg won the SAIL Open title here and began this event in third place on the Asian Tour's Order of Merit. Now, as a multiple-winner, Karlberg enjoys a three-year exemption from the qualifiers on the Tour.
Karlberg's triumph, after a dramatic chip-in from over 20 feet on the final hole, was worth $198,125.
“It feels just amazing,” said the champion, who fired two-under 70 for a tally of 11-under 277. “I feel so comfortable when I'm here. Even when I was struggling today, I felt confident. I made great up and downs (putts) all week. The first day, it felt solid and then I struggled a bit. You have to fight a bit, but my short game has been unbelievable.
“I feel comfortable on the greens. The putting was just unbelievable in the SAIL Open (when he won) but here, my chipping and bunker shots were really good.
“I'm really happy to be where I am now. We're going to have a nice celebration when I get home to my family for Christmas,” said a jubilant Karlberg.
Karlberg's two-stroke winning margin came after he recovered with a good second shot from the right “rough” on the 18th and then went “out of bounds” with the third.
After a free ‘drop', Karlberg's stunning chip-in birdie decided the title.
Baek, whose eagle on the 14th hole brought him right back into contention, made amends for the bogey on the 16th with a final-hole birdie. The final birdie-putt was effectively worth a whopping $22,229 for Baek, who eventually received $135,625. A final-hole par would have made him part of a three-way tie for the second spot.
Disappointed
Jaini, who birdied five holes, including the first three, for a front-nine 31, was “very disappointed” for making a few “wrong decisions” on the back-nine for a poor 39.
He took the third spot with a resurgent Shiv Kapur, who shot the day's best 67 that left him “happy but not satisfied.” They collected $68,937 each.
With Mukesh Kumar, Ashok Kumar and Arjun Atwal finishing in the top-nine, the home challenge stood out till the end.
The scores:
Rikard Karlberg (Swe) (70, 69, 68, 70) 277; Baek Seuk-Hyun (Kor) (68, 70, 68, 73) 279; Manav Jaini (70, 69, 71, 70), Shiv Kapur (71, 73, 69, 67) 280; Mukesh Kumar (70, 70, 70, 71), Marcus Both (Aus) (68, 74, 69, 70) Siddikur (Ban) (72, 72, 67, 70), Ashok Kumar (69, 73, 70, 69) and Arjun Atwal (73, 69, 70, 69) 281.
Other Indians: Jyoti Randhawa (72, 71, 69, 72) 284; Shamim Khan (69, 72, 74, 70) 285; Chiragh Kumar (70, 73, 72, 72), Sanjay Kumar (68, 76, 71, 72) 287; Vikrant Chopra (72, 73, 71, 73) 289.
Digvijay Singh (73, 73, 68, 76), Gaurav Pratap Singh (70, 74, 71, 75), Feroz Ali (71, 71, 76, 72), Ranjit Singh (69, 77, 72, 73) 291.
Himmat Rai (70, 75, 71, 76), Ali Sher (71, 75, 70, 76), Harendra Gupta (72, 74, 73, 73), Rashid Khan (72, 74, 76, 70) 292; Vijay Kumar (72, 73, 74, 75) 294; Vishal Singh (75, 73, 73, 74) 295; Sujjan Singh (73, 72, 76, 75), Arshdeep Tiwana (75, 73, 73, 75) 296; Amardip Malik (74, 72, 76, 78) 300 and Khalin Joshi (A) (76, 70, 84, 81) 311.
