Dhaka, May 30 (IANS): Young Indian golfer Khalin Joshi shot three-under 68 in the final round to tie for second place while Singaporean veteran Mardan Mamat posted two-under 69 to cruise to a two-shot victory at the $300,000 Bangladesh Open here on Saturday.
The 23-year-old Khalin, who was chasing for a first Asian Tour win, carded five birdies on the first, fourth, seventh, ninth and 18th holes to score 68 that helped him share the second place with South Korea’s Soomin Lee.
Bengaluru-based Khalin took his four-day total to 12-under 272 -- two short of champion Mamat at the par-71 Kurmitola Golf Club. "I’m disappointed with my result but not my game. To be honest, I expected to win. My putter let me down the whole week. If I putted better, I could have won this tournament.
"But Mardan got the better out of everybody. He played really well from tee to green. He is the rightful champion," Khalin said in a release.
The day belonged to Mamat, who stayed calm and composed in the heat. His overnight three-shot lead was reduced to one stroke after he bogeyed the fourth hole but he steadied ship with a pair of birdies from the fifth and sixth before adding another birdie on the 12th hole.
“I’m the first Bashundhara Bangladesh Open winner so this is a special win. I talked to my wife (Naz) last night and she sent me a message saying 'You are the champion, you are the winner and you are the man'. That really inspired me today," said an emotional Mamat, who won $54,000.
Other Indians in the fray, Amardip Malik and Sujjan Singh finished tied seven and joint 11th, respectively. While Amardip finished with a 69 that took his total to six-under 278, Sujjan carded 67 in the final round to push his total to 279.
Rahil Gangjee and Om Prakash Chouhan shared the 13th spot at 280. S. Chikka (tied 22nd), M. Dharma (joint 25th), Chiragh Kumar (tied 28th), Manav Jaini (tied 38th), Subhankar Sharma (tied 49th), Angad Cheema (tied 55th), Himmat Rai and Sanjay Kumar ( both tied 59th), Abhinav Lohan (joint 65th) and Ajeetesh Sandhu (tied 68th) never looked like finishing inside the top 10.