Schniederjans records emotional comeback win; Lahiri finishes tied 10

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Gurugram, Feb 2 (PTI) Anirban Lahiri ended up as the top Indian with a final round of 68 that saw him finish tied-10th in International Series India here on Sunday.

As Lahiri carried the flag for the local fans, American Ollie Schniederjans completed a incredible comeback in his career with an emotional win, signalled as he hugged his brother, who was his caddie.

The American who holed an amazing chip for a birdie on 13, fired a three-under-par 69 for a four-round aggregate of 10-under.

It gave him a surprise four-shot victory over reigning US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau, his nearest challenger.

DeChambeau carded one of the best rounds of the week with a seven-under par round of 65, but the eight-shot lead that Schniederjans held when the final round began was a bit too much make up though the two-time Major winner it down to four and finished sole second.

Lahiri earlier finished his third round in 79 and admitted it robbed him of a chance to finish higher. “That 79 in round three killed me. I missed a lot of short putts, but the good thing is that I felt in much better rhythm with my putter towards the end of the final round and thought I made some nice putts.

“Also, the driver I have right now is a temporary fix and I just need to work on it a bit. So, some work to do both technically and with my equipment,” he said.

Abraham Ancer finished joint third on two under after a level-par final round, alongside reigning The International Series Rankings champion Joaquin Niemann, with only four players finishing under par on the testing Gary Player-designed course.

Schniederjans’ win is a remarkable one. He had replacement surgery on both hips in 2022 and was out of the game for well over a year.

Schniederjans is playing this week by virtue of finishing fourth at last year’s LIV Golf Promotions event, with the top-10 players earning playing rights for The International Series.

Schniederjans said: “It was a long process, it took a lot of patience. I did a lot to change my body and swing, and had to learn a lot through that process.” Another Indian Gaganjeet Bhullar, the 11-time Asian Tour champion, was T26 on seven over, two ahead of Karandeep Kochhar (+9), with Yuvraj Sandhu on 11 over.

Amateur star Kartik Singh, who at 15 became the youngest Indian to make the cut on the Asian Tour, signed off with a 75 to finish T53, just behind Shubhankar Sharma and SSP Chawrasia. Shiv Kapur, Ajeetesh Sandhu and Rahil Gangjee. PTI Corr UNG 7/21/2024