Ajeetesh Sandhu and Rashid Khan dropped a crucial bogey each on the par-5 17th hole to finish second and third respectively at the Bangabandhu Cup Golf Open in Dhaka on Saturday.
They had raised vision of a one-two finish for India but allowed rookie Sadom Kaewkanjana to sneak ahead and win in his first Asian Tour appearance this season. Sadom had led for most part of the tournament but gave away three bogeys in a row from 13th to 15th and fell to third position as Sandhu (65) and Khan (70) overtook him.
Then it was Sandhu and Rashid’s turn to give in to pressure. The Indians bogeyed the par-5 17th, while Sadom birdied 16th and 17th to get to the 18th tee with a one-shot lead. The three played the 18th in par and Sadom was home as champion.
Among other Indians Karandeep Kochhar (70) was T-12th, Veer Ahlawat (67) and Udayan Mane (70) were T-25th, Honey Baisoya (69), Viraj Madappa (77) and Abhijit Chadha (67) were T-35th.
Jeev Milkha Singh (71) had rounds of 74-67-71-71 and was T-41. It was an encouraging performance as he makes his way back from injury and loss of form. Aman Raj (67) was T-48th and Akshay Sharma (75) was T-61.
“I knew what I had to do when I started out. I actually did what I needed to so I am quite happy with that. I just made a mistake on one hole. I haven’t made any bogey in three and a half days. It’s not that I played the hole bad. I just missed out on the putt,” Sandhu said.
“It’s been a great week, considering how I started the week with three bogeys in my opening eight holes. If someone had told me I would finish second at the start of the week, I would have taken that.
Rashid said, “I hit a few good shots but couldn’t hole the putts. I expected it to be better but it’s fine. I just made some mistakes out there but otherwise, I am happy.”