Kochhar slips to fourth as Cho wins Philippine Golf Championship

Karandeep Kochhar’s week at the Philippine Golf Championship ended in disappointment as the Indian slipped from the lead to finish fourth at Wack Wack Golf & Country Club in Manila.

Kochhar, who had surged into contention with a course-record 65 in the third round, never found momentum on Sunday and stumbled to a closing 77. His round began with a double bogey and unravelled further with a run of bogeys around the turn. His lone birdie came on the 11th, but more dropped shots followed as he finished well off the pace.

The title went to Korea’s Wooyoung Cho, who became an Asian Tour winner for the first time with a composed final-round 67. The 24-year-old, part of Korea’s Asian Games gold-medal team, finished at 11-under and secured a four-shot victory over Thailand’s Pavit Tangkamolprasert.

Cho recovered from an opening-hole bogey with birdies on the second and third to take control early and held off the challenge through the closing stretch. The win earned him $90,000, plus a $10,000 bonus for the lowest round of the day.

Australia’s Travis Smyth finished third, six shots behind the champion, while Kochhar’s late collapse left him a further two back in fourth.

Among the other Indians in the field, Shubham Jaglan finished T-29, Ajeetesh Sandhu was T-44, and rookie Shaurya Bhattacharya ended T-55.

The Asian Tour now heads to the Southern Hemisphere for the New Zealand Open at Millbrook Resort.

Photo – Asian Tour