Kaul grabs Kolar Open with late flourish

Kolar (Karnataka), Aug 29 (PTI) Delhi's Kshitij Naveed Kaul snatched victory with an incredible late flourish at the Kolar Open with an impressive final round of seven-under 65, here Friday.

Kaul (74-69-71-65), who was overnight fifth and six shots off the lead, staged an unbelievable comeback on day four -- highlighted by three birdies and an eagle on the last four holes that took his total to nine-under 279 and gave him a two-shot victory on the most windy day of the week.

It was 24-year-old Kaul's fifth professional win. His winning cheque of Rs. 15 lakh pushed him up five spots to eighth on the PGTI Order of Merit with his season's earnings moving to Rs. 48,00,847.

Shaurya Bhattacharya (70-72-66-73), another Delhi-based professional and the overnight leader by three shots, posted a final round of 73 to finish runner-up at seven-under 281. He climbed four spots to sixth position in the PGTI Order of Merit.

Gurugram’s Dhruv Sheoran (67) signed off in third place at four-under 284.

Pune’s Udayan Mane, who set the course record of 67 in round two, carded a 74 in the fourth round to close the week in tied fourth at three-under 285. Honey Baisoya (72) took a share of fourth place.

Nepal's Subash Tamang finished sixth at two-under 286.

Kaul announced himself as a contender early in the day when he produced some fabulous drives and wedge-play to pick up four birdies on the first six holes..

He endured a tough stretch dropping three straight bogeys from seven to the ninth as a result of finding the water hazard once and missing a couple of short putts.

However, he did recover well after finding the water on the seventh to make an 18-footer for bogey.

After draining a birdie on the 10th, Kaul, who won his last title in November last year, came up with a dream finish when he sank a couple of long birdie putts on the 15th and 16th and followed that up with a chip-in for birdie on the 17th and a mammoth 30-feet eagle conversion on the 18th.

"In the final stretch, I was just trying to hit one good shot after another. The winds made it very challenging to control the distance and dispersion of the ball. But I knew if I kept producing good shots, I would finally come through," said Kaul. PTI AT ATAT KHS