India's Jyoti Randhawa lifted the US$400,000 Hero Honda Indian Open on the Asian Tour for the second time in his career when he returned to Delhi Golf Club on Monday morning to defeat compatriot SSP Chowrasia in a sudden-death play-off early.
Randhawa made a solid birdie four on the 18th hole against Chowrasia's par to triumph on what was the second play-off hole. The pair had been unable to complete the play-off on Sunday evening due to darkness.
It was a case of redemption for Randhawa, who missed a four foot putt on the first extra hole late on Sunday which would have won him the title. India's Vijay Kumar had also been involved on the first extra hole but dropped out after hitting his tee shot into the trees.
"I am very pleased with the way I came back and won today. It was nerve wracking missing that putt on the 18th last night. I stood over that putt and was thinking that this is the putt to win the Open and that was enough to cause me to miss it. I thought of winning a golf tournament and did not think about the putt," said Randhawa.
The 34-year-old Randhawa revealed that he had an almost sleepless night thinking about his miss. He said: "I went back and thought about it and figured out what went wrong, I only slept three of four hours last night."
The victory, worth US$63,400, meant Randhawa maintained his tremendous track record at Delhi Golf Club, where he won the Hero Honda Masters in 1998 and 1999 and the Indian Open in 2000, which was also in a play-off. The win also pushed Randhawa up to 14th position on the Asian Tour’s UBS Order of Merit.
