Udayan Mane emerges champ after nerve-wracking final

Bengaluru, November 18: Heartbreak for one and victory for the other. That’s how a tournament always ends. But the loss here would undoubtably hurt more as it went right down to the wire. It all came down to the last hole. On this day Honey Baisoya suffered the heartbreak, while Udayan Mane lifted the inaugural Bengaluru Open Golf Championship trophy on Saturday.

With the sun blazing down, the temperature at the course was as high as it could get, as the crowd watched with bated breath, as Baisoya and Mane served up a mouth-watering round at the Karnataka Golf Association.

#UdayanMane wins it by one #BengaluruOpen Golf Championship sponsored by #KarnatakaTourism @KarnatakaWorld @baisoyahoney 2nd

— PGTI (@PGTITOUR) November 18, 2017

It was indeed a battle of equals, though Mane held onto his nerves to seal the deal. Honey, who had been in lead since the second day, started the day with a two-shot cushion. But the Delhi golfer failed to capitalise on it, as he played out his worst round of the week.

On the other hand, Mane, took matters into his own hands from the very onset. Playing the last 18 holes it was a see-saw battle as the duo went neck-to-neck. On the day Mane turned in a score of four-under for a total of 20-under 268, while Honey turned in one-under to finish with a total of 19-under-269.

A slew of bad putts saw Baisoya give up golden opportunities to take the game away, but a determined Mane never let the gap widen, as he played out a testing round. But only to emerge as the champion.

With the win 26-year-old Mane climbed to the top of the Order of Merit list. With the final pegged to be a shootout between the duo, both started the day with back-to-back birdies on the first two holes.

But from thereon, it was another story. While Mane collected another birdie on the sixth, Baisoya slipped with a bogey on the seventh. While the tension built up, Mane lost his only shot of the day on the ninth.

Taking the turn, Mane was just one off the leader, which he quickly rectified with birdies on the 11th and 12th. Meanwhile Baisoya saved his last shot of the day on the 11th, following which both went head-on. On the 17th, overnight leader Baisoya came dangerously close to gaining back the lead, but another missed putt ended his hopes.

With both golfers prepping themselves for a play-off one couldn’t really foresee the outcome on the 18th. It all came down to a matter of nerves on the day. With a crowd following and the pressure building, Baisoya buckled as he missed an easy sure-shot two and a half feet putt to bogey the 18th hole. All Mane needed was to par the hole, and that the pro did effortlessly to pick up his third title of the year.

The crowd broke into applause to cheer on the champ, but on the other hand one could not but feel a tad bit sorry for the runner-up. Elated at having won at the KGA, his former home course, Mane was overjoyed, but not before feeling Baisoya’s loss. “I’m overjoyed for sure! It’s surprising I won, I honestly didn’t expect to win. I didn’t play the practice rounds or the pro-am over here ahead of the event.

“Heading into the last hole I was certain that I would bogey and Honey would make par. I was being a little hard on myself. But I was very focussed, and I have been playing with a lot of heart this week so I forgave myself for the little mistakes I made and focussed on the next shot.

Speaking about the final day duel, Mane said, “I was honestly thinking of a playoff. The way he’s being putting over the last two days. He’s been putting like a demon. For him to miss that it hurt me also. I think for me both of us won the tournament, if that were possible. Both of us showed a lot of promise, grit and determination throughout the round. We were matching each other shot by shot. It was just awesome to play and experience a round like that.

Meanwhile, Baisoya, who yet again ended up as a runner-up at the KGA, took a while, but eventually did recover from the reeling loss. “I think it’s a good experience. I’ve never felt this way before. I was almost crying after the round and I was a little emotional. But now I’ve realised its okay, its a good experience. I shot 19-under for four days and that’s a really good score,” said the 21-year-old.

Speaking about his dismal final round Honey said, “I was feeling under pressure at the 14th (missed a putt and failed to take back the lead). I had been the leader since the second day so I was feeling the pressure. My putts were very bad today and Mane was playing very well. He made mistakes and recovered well, but I couldn’t. I think it was just a case of nerves. I’ve made the putt before, I know the line, I know the speed but I couldn’t make it today. I was blank that time,” signed off the runner-up.

Elsewhere, Harendra Gupta held onto his place as he ended the tournament placed third with a total of 17-under-271. Local pro Khalin Joshi fired the best round of the day, turning in a card of six-under-66 for a total of 14-under-274. Khalin ended the event tied fourth along with local pro Rahil Gangjee.

Scores:

268: Udayan Mane (69+65+66+68)

269: Honey Baisoya (67+64+67+71)

271: (68+69+67+67)

274: Khalin Joshi (69+70+69+66); Rahil Gangjee (70+68+69+67)

275: Himmat Singh Rai (66+71+69+69); M Dharma (67+70+69+69); Shamim Khan (66+72+68+69)