Nuh (Haryana), March 23 (IANS) Spaniard Quim Vidal won a pulsating playoff encounter against Englishman Joshua Berry to triumph at the US$ 300,000 Delhi Challenge 2025 being played at the Classic Golf & Country Club here on Sunday.
Vidal (65-68-66-71) and Berry (69-66-67-68), the winner at the Kolkata Challenge last week, headed into a playoff after they were tied at the top of the leaderboard with identical totals of 18-under 270 after the regulation 72 holes in the HotelPlanner Tour & PGTI joint sanctioned event.
While Quim made a bogey on the front nine and a crucial 30-feet eagle putt on the 18th to register a steady 71 and make it into the playoff in dramatic fashion on Sunday, Joshua mixed six birdies with two bogeys for his 68 on the last day. Vidal finally sealed victory with a two-putt for birdie from 20 feet on the third playoff hole even as Berry missed a birdie there.
Arjun Prasad (68-68-70-67) made six birdies and a bogey in his fourth round of 67 to gain four spots and finish as the highest-placed Indian in tied sixth position at 15-under 273. The other Indians in the top 20 were Rashid Khan (66) who finished tied 11th at 13-under 275 as well as Harshjeet Singh Sethie (69) and Kshitij Naveed Kaul (72) both of whom finished tied 15th at 12-under 276.
The 25-year-old Quim Vidal, who led by three shots at the start of the final round, posted a rock-solid 71 in round four to share the lead with in-form Joshua Berry at the end of regulation play. Both players birdied the first two extra holes before Vidal closed out victory with a brilliant birdie on the third play-off hole.
Vidal, who recovered from a slow start in his final round before picking up his maiden HotelPlanner Tour victory, said, “I wasn’t expecting this after a tough day, but I’m lost for words right now. The play-off was so tough, and I didn’t know how it was going to end. “I knew I had to make an eagle to get in the play-off and I was so focussed on making that putt. It was probably the only long putt I made all day, and it was special,” he said.
Arjun Prasad sank a couple of 12-footers to pocket birdies on the third and fifth holes. He then stumbled with a bogey on the eighth to make the turn at one-under for the day. A great approach on the 12th followed by a quality up and down on the 14th saw Arjun push ahead with two more birdies. Prasad finally nailed birdies on the 16th and 18th, a 20-footer on the former, to end the week as the best Indian.
Arjun said, “I put together four solid rounds so I’m quite happy about this week’s performance. With tough pin positions in place, putting proved to be the decisive factor in round four. I’m glad that I converted my chances on the greens.
“It was a great experience playing alongside some top-notch talent from the HotelPlanner Tour. I feel this partnership between the HotelPlanner Tour and the PGTI is a big positive for Indian golf as it provides valuable international exposure to Indian professionals and goes a long way in helping them hone their skills,” he added.
Rashid Khan’s flawless 66 was the joint-best round among the Indians on the final day. It helped him rise 17 spots from overnight tied 28th to tied 11th place. Khan, who hit all greens in regulation on the last day, left himself two birdie tap-ins and also sank a couple of birdies from a range of 15 to 25 feet.
“After a long time, I really enjoyed playing a round. I worked on one aspect of my putting after round one and sorted a couple of things out. That saw a marked improvement in my putting over the last three days,” Rashid said.
–IANS
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