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A gentle fist pump and doff of cap was all Keita Nakajima let out in terms of emotions as he holed the bogey putt on the 18th to complete his maiden DP World Tour triumph, as the young Japanese sealed victory at the Hero Indian Open here by four shots on Sunday.
His dominant show across four rounds ended in some meltdown as his last five holes led to a double bogey, birdie, bogey, bogey and bogey, but the 23-year-old rising star had done plenty until then to still finish well ahead at 17-under for the tournament.
Local boy Veer Ahlawat’s 18th hole eagle three lifted him into tied second at 13-under with Sweden’s Sebastian Soderberg and USA’s Johannes Veerman. The capacity crowd at the DLF Golf and Country Club rose in unison as the Japanese, despite carding his worst round (1-over 73), completed victory on a windy evening.
The overnight sole leader at 18-under, Nakajima birdied the first, fourth and sixth holes to race to 21-under, nine clear of the field. He bogeyed the seventh but was still on course to break the record for the biggest winning margin of eight shots in the Indian Open set by Chinese Taipei’s Chen Chien Chung back in 1970. He shot 65, 65, 68, 73.
As the greens firmed up and the breeze picked up, Nakajima’s aggressive strokeplay meant controlling the shots became increasingly tougher. A double bogey on the 14th – the second toughest hole on the course where he struggled on all four days — and bogeys on the tricky 16th, 17th and 18th underlined the testing conditions as the pressure he would have felt.
Still, his winning total was a record for the event, bettering the 14-under of Germany’s 2023 winner Marcel Siem, who could not defend the title due to injury.
“I don’t like the number 14. It was a challenging course, but maybe now I’ll call it my second home,” Nakajima joked. “The back nine was tough today, but I am happy with my overall performance. My next target is to make it to Japan’s Olympic team.”
A fan of Tiger Woods and Japan’s former world No. 2 Hideki Matsuyama, Nakajima said he continued to back his aggressive game without worrying about dropping shots.
Having spent a record 87 weeks as the world’s top amateur, Nakajima was happy with his transition to the professional ranks. “I am happy with my growth. This result will inspire me to do better,” he added.
The loudest cheer of the day, however, was reserved for Ahlawat (69, 66, 69, 71) whose T2 was India’s best since SSP Chawrasia’s 2017 victory. Ahlawat, who finished T13 last year, began the day at sixth and was one over for the round after three birdies and four bogeys teeing off at the 18th. He dropped out of the top 10 at one stage, but the birdie on 16th helped steady before the eagle finish.
“It’s a major step in my career,” the 28-year-old said. “It will give me great confidence going forward. My next target is to top the PGTI Order of Merit and earn a card for Europe next year.”
Soderberg’s bogey on the 8th and Veerman’s last-hole birdie left them tied – both shot a final round 67 – before Ahlawat joined them at -13.
Shubhankar Sharma finished tied 31 after a second successive par round (70, 70, 72, 72), finishing 4-under for the event.
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