Ahlawat storms from five back to win Jaipur Open with second 62
Veer Ahlawat came from five shots back with a second tournament-low 8-under 62 to win the Jaipur Open at Rambagh Golf Club by one stroke on Friday.
The Gurugram golfer closed with a bogey-free 62 to finish at 19-under 261 (67-62-70-62), edging overnight leader Yuvraj Sandhu, who signed for a 68 and settled for second at 18-under 262. Shaurya Bhattacharya’s 64 lifted him to third at 15-under 265.
Ahlawat’s week was built on two bursts of brilliance — matching his own 62 from round two — and it also rewrote the Rambagh record book. His 19-under total beat the previous lowest winning score at the venue, the 16-under 264 set by Sanjay Kumar in a 2011 PGTI event.
Sandhu looked to have done enough when he was still moving forward late in the round, but the finish turned. After mixing five birdies with a lone bogey through 16, he dropped shots on each of the last two holes to open the door.
Ahlawat didn’t kick the door down early. He reached the turn in control rather than in a sprint, then poured it on across the back nine — six birdies, including a key 14-foot conversion at the 17th after getting into trouble.
“I discovered something new in my swing earlier this week that really helped my driving,” Ahlawat said. “The putts didn’t roll in on the front nine, but on the back nine I holed almost every putt. The game-changer was 17.”
The win is Ahlawat’s fifth on the PGTI and pays ₹15 lakh, moving him up from 38th to 18th on the Order of Merit. Sandhu, still the season’s dominant performer, added ₹10 lakh and stretched his Order of Merit lead beyond ₹33 lakh on earnings of ₹1,31,67,100.
Photo – Champion Veer Ahlawat (2nd from right) receives the trophy and cheque from Mr. Suyash Patodia, Joint Managing Director, Choice International (3rd from left), Mr. Rahul Mehta, Owner, Victorious Choice (4th from left), Mr. J K Jajoo, Chairman, Shubhashish Homes (3rd from right) and Mr. Kapil Dev, President, PGTI (4th from right). The other dignitaries seen in the picture are Mr. Yogendra Singh, Captain, Rambagh Golf Club (2nd from left), Mr. Samridh Sharma, Honorary Secretary, Rambagh Golf Club (extreme right) and Mr. Amandeep Johl, CEO, PGTI (extreme left) / PGTI
