Fleetwood wins inaugural India Ch'ship; Shiv Kapur best Indian at T-32

New Delhi, Oct 19 (PTI) England's Tommy Fleetwood was an epitome of calm and composure as he fired a brilliant seven-under 65 to clinch the inaugural DP World India Championship title with a two-stroke win over Japan's Keita Nakajima here on Sunday.

In a gripping final round, Fleetwood, who started the final day two shots behind, displayed his trademark poise under pressure, fending off a spirited charge from New Zealander Daniel Hiller (69) to finish with a total of 266 to lift the title.

It was Fleetwood’s eighth DP World Tour victory and his first in India. The Englishman had earlier featured at the 2016 Hero Indian Open and the 2012 Avantha Masters.

Fleetwood celebrated his win by hugging his son and reveals how a wish from his son inspired his superb win.

"Another win feels great," he said.

"We were at home last week and we were driving the buggy playing golf together and he just said randomly - 'Do you know what you've never done? You've never won a tournament and then I've been able to run onto the 18th green," he added.

"I had that written down all week. It was just another opportunity really." Nakajima carded a three-under 69 to finish second at 20-under 268, while Shane Lowry (68), Alex Fitzpatrick (67) and Thriston Lawrence (65) shared the next spots on the leaderboard.

Among Indians, Shiv Kapur turned in the best performance, firing five birdies and a bogey on the front nine before parring out to return a four-under 68 and finish tied 32nd at nine-under.

Anirban Lahiri endured a topsy-turvy round to sign for a one-under 71, while Shubhankar Sharma carded another two-over 74 — matching his opening day score — to share the 56th spot at three-under.

Dhruv Sheoran returned an even-par 72 after five birdies and as many bogeys to slip 11 places and finish tied 36th.

Earlier, Daniel Hiller (69, 67, 67, 69) produced a fiery start, going on a birdie spree with seven on the front nine to reach 20-under and throw the contest wide open.

Starting the day four strokes behind overnight leader Nakajima, Hiller caught up with the Japanese by the seventh hole.

Nakajima managed just one birdie on the front nine, while Fleetwood stayed patient, picking up five birdies and a bogey to join Hiller at 20-under on the 10th.

But the Delhi Golf Club layout bared its teeth on the back nine. Hiller found the bushes on the 14th, took a penalty, and missed a makeable putt for a double bogey — allowing Fleetwood to pull two shots clear.

The Kiwi's challenge faded thereafter as he dropped two more shots on the 15th and 18th to finish tied ninth.

Fleetwood, who was the leader at the halfway mark on day 2, kept his composure, adding birdies on the 14th and 17th to close at 22-under — two clear of Nakajima, who also picked up birdies on the 12th and 17th but couldn't bridge the gap.

"I think everybody needs something to push them or to motivate them. Yeah, I apply myself in trying to achieve the best possible at all times, and there's plenty of times where things haven't gone my way, but the last two tournaments I've been in contention or won, so maybe things are starting to even out a little bit.

"I love working on my game. I love having all these experiences which help me sort of pass it down to my kids or to anybody that is interested in listening.

"I just want to give myself the best possible chance of playing well each and every week, so that goes from practice to how you think to how you are, and that's all I try and do." PTI ATK AT AT