Ahlawat storms home with 67 to win inaugural CIDCO Open
Veer Ahlawat closed with a four-under 67 to win the INR 1 crore CIDCO Open 2025 presented by Larsen & Toubro, completing a wire-to-wire victory in the first-ever professional event at Kharghar Valley Golf Course in Navi Mumbai. His 14-under 270 total (65-65-73-67) gave the Gurugram pro a three-shot win and a second title of the PGTI season.
The 2024 PGTI Order of Merit champion, standing six-foot four, wobbled early on Sunday after opening with tap-in birdies at the first and third. Two bogeys and a double, after wayward shots into trees and water on the fourth and ninth, left the final round briefly up for grabs as Rohan Dhole Patil, Michele Ortolani and Manu Gandas closed in around the turn.
Ahlawat responded with a ruthless back-nine burst, playing the last eight holes in five under with an eagle, four birdies and a single bogey to pull clear. He holed a 20-footer for eagle at the 12th, rolled in another from similar range for birdie at the last and canned a 15-footer at the 13th as the chasing pack struggled to match his scoring. The win, his sixth on PGTI, was worth INR 15 lakh and moved him from 18th to 11th on the 2025 PGTI Ranking.
Pune’s Rohan Dhole Patil, who shared the 54-hole lead after a third-round 64, returned a final-round 70 to finish runner-up at 11-under 273, his best result on tour and good for INR 10 lakh as he climbed from 42nd to 32nd on the Ranking. Gandas (68-68-70-68) and Italy’s Ortolani (67-66-72-69) shared third at 10-under 274 after solid closing rounds that never quite threatened Ahlawat’s late surge.
There was one more highlight on Sunday as Chandigarh’s Ravi Kumar made the tournament’s third ace, holing out on the 13th during a closing 71. He finished tied ninth at four-under 280, rounding off a week in which KVGC’s new layout delivered both scoring chances and plenty of punishment to those who missed their targets.
Ahlawat, who brought back valuable experience from his DP World Tour starts earlier in the year, said the back-nine turnaround came from trusting his record under pressure. He admitted the middle stretch was “tough” but felt quietly confident he could rebound once he found his rhythm, adding that KVGC’s layout and length make it “one of the best golf courses in the country” and a fitting stage for a new PGTI stop.
Photo – PGTI / Champion Veer Ahlawat (3rd from left) receives the trophy and cheque from Shri Vijay Singhal, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, CIDCO (2nd from left) and Mr. Kapil Dev, President, PGTI (3rd from right). The other dignitaries seen in the picture are Shri Shantanu Goel, Joint Managing Director, CIDCO (2nd from right), Mr. Shrinath Rao, Senior Vice President & Head, Special Assignments, Larsen & Toubro (extreme right) and Mr. Amandeep Johl, CEO, PGTI (extreme left).
