Golfer Azhar claims maiden title at Kolar Open

KOLAR: Mohd Azhar carded a one-under 71 to claim his maiden professional title at the second edition of the INR 1 crore Kolar Open at Zion Hills Golf County on the outskirts of Bengaluru.

Key points

• Defending champion Kshitij Naveed Kaul (73-75-66-69) of Delhi and Badal Hossain (69-72-69-73) shared fifth place at five-under 283.
• Gurugram's Veer Ahlawat (71-71-69-71), the 2024 DP World PGTI Rankings champion, finished alone in fourth place at six-under 282.
• Current DP World PGTI Order of Merit leader Saptak Talwar (72-71-70-74).
• One of the biggest moments of his round arrived on the 12th, where he holed a putt from around 30 to 35 feet for birdie.
• Azhar, who joined the professional tour in 2020, began the final round two shots behind Bhattacharya.

It was another close finish at Zion Hills for Bhattacharya. This person additionally finished runner-up in the inaugural edition last year, two shots behind Kshitij Naveed Kaul.

Azhar, who joined the professional tour in 2020, began the final round two shots behind Bhattacharya. He stayed patient through testing spells of wind and rain and created enough opportunities to move ahead as the tournament reached its decisive stage.

"Today was very good and I'm extremely happy with the way I played, " remarked Azhar. "The conditions were difficult with the wind and rain, but I stayed patient and focused on finding greens in regulation."

Azhar reached the par-five second in two shots and created a comfortable two-putt birdie. He then struck his approach close for a tap-in birdie on the fourth.

"I created several birdie opportunities and managed to convert enough of them, " he remarked. "The long putt on the 12th was one of the highlights. On the back nine, I tried to play solidly and create pars whenever a birdie opportunity was not available."

For context, the victory completed a significant step forward for Azhar, whose previous best result on the DP World PGTI was a tied-second finish at the Boulders Classic in April.

Current DP World PGTI Order of Merit leader Saptak Talwar (72-71-70-74). This person spent the summer competing on the HotelPlanner Tour, finished 10th at one-under 287.

Taken together, the developments around golfer Azhar claims maiden title at Kolar Open point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.