Randhawa continues good run, lifts BILT Open

Greater Noida, Oct 29 (UNI) Riding on a flawless back nine and capping his excellent run on home soil, country's top golfer Jyoti Randhawa added another feather to his already well decorated cap when he lifted the BILT Open with a comfortable three-shot lead over his nearest rival here today.

Randhawa, who lifted the Indian Open earlier this month, carded an impressive three-under 69 to total 15-under 273, ahead of Lam Chih Bing (276), who turned the heat on his Indian rival before running out of steam and returning one-under 71.

SSP Chowrasia (278), who had forced a playoff with Randhawa in the Indian Open, returned one-under 71 to aggregate 278 and finish third.

Among others, Shiv Kapur came up with a vastly improved round of four-under 68 to finish tied fifth at 281.

Randhawa was not at his best in his front and bogeys on the sixth -- his only other bogey was on eighth -- saw him at par with Lam Chih Bing. But Randhawa was unnerved and the birdies on the second and seventh meant he made the turn at level-par.

His backway journey was a bogey-free affair and the lanky Indian snuffed out Lam's resistance sinking in a trio of birdies on the 10th, 12th and 18th.

Later, after collecting the winner's cheque of Rs 11.34 lakhs, Randhawa revealed pin positions made the task tougher today.

''Pin position was just world class. In fact you get to see this kind of things in US only. It meant, you had to be on the right side of the pin all the time and that's not an easy task. And reading the green was also quite a daunting task,'' he said.

On his performance here, Randhawa said, ''It was little up and down in my front nine but I handled the situation well. I tried not to worry about the outcome but to live in present and do the job at my hand.

''The confidence I gained from winning the Indian Open helped me here and I hope to carry it forward,'' said the Indian, who, after a week's rest, flies to Shanghai for the star-studded HSBC Open.

Randhawa's Indian Open triumph earned him a ticket for five million dollar event in Shanghai.

The golfer was also happy with the way the nascent Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) had kicked off its journey.

''BILT Open was the first tournament under PGTI and we are really happy with the way it started. I mean you can always expect teething problems but the hosting and competition were of highest standard.

''I had earlier committed to play at least two PGTI events but I think it would be at least three now,'' he added.

Leading scores: 273: Jyoti Randhawa (66,70,68,69) 276: Lam Chih Bing (70,68,67,71) 278: SSP Chowrasia(70,65,72,71) 280: Harmeet Kahlon (66,72,71,71) 281: Digvijay Singh(70,71,69,71), Rahul Ganapathy(66,6972,74), Shiv Kapur (75,66,72,68) UNI AY YA BD1731