Sachin Baisoya edges out Rashid in playoff to bag Jaipur Open

Jaipur, Nov 16 (PTI) Sachin Baisoya edged out Rashid Khan in a thrilling playoff to clinch the Rs 1 crore Jaipur Open here on Saturday.
    Both the Delhi-based professionals, Baisoya (65-65-64-64) and Rashid (64-68-61-65) ended the regulation 72 holes at the Rambagh Golf Club with identical 22-under 258 before locking horns in a titanic playoff that lasted an astonishing five extra holes.

    The 29-year-old Baisoya sealed the deal with a three-feet birdie conversion following an extraordinary tee shot on the Par-3 second hole.

    Baisoya, involved in his first ever playoff, lifted his third career title that earned him a cheque of INR 15 lakh and it also pushed him up from sixth to fifth place in the PGTI Ranking.

    Chandigarh’s Akshay Sharma (67), Hyderabad’s Milind Soni (69) and Delhi’s Kshitij Naveed Kaul (70) took tied third place at 16-under 264.

    Baisoya, overnight tied third and two off the lead, struck the last day’s joint best score of 64 that got him into the playoff.

    After a slow start, he opened his account with an eagle on the eighth and then added five birdies at the cost of just one bogey on the back-nine as both his hitting and short-game were top-class.

    Baisoya earned his place in the playoff after a mammoth 35-feet birdie conversion on the 18th.

    Rashid, who was overnight second and one off the lead, mixed six birdies with a bogey during his 65.

    He found the water hazard on the 18th but made a sensational recovery with an up and down to save par and make the playoff.

    On the first four playoff holes, all played on the Par-5 18th hole, both players were level as they matched each other shot for shot including a 35-footer for par by Rashid on the first extra hole.

    The action then moved to the Par-3 second hole for the fifth extra hole.

    While Rashid found the bunker with his tee shot, Baisoya landed it within three feet of the flag.

    Rashid’s exceptional bunker shot that stopped four feet from the hole was not good enough as Baisoya sank his birdie putt from three feet to win the playoff and the title.

    “After a slow start, the eagle on the eighth was a huge confidence-booster. That set the tone for the rest of my round,” said Baisoya.

    The five-hole playoff encounter fell just short of equaling the PGTI record of six holes played in a playoff between Aadil Bedi (winner) and Udayan Mane back in 2020 at Tollygunge Club in Kolkata.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)