Hero Indian Open, Day 4: Final-hole eagle takes Veer Ahlawat to joint second spot; ‘Nervous’ Nakajima wins by four shots

Minutes before the coronation of Keita Nakajima as the new $2.25-million Hero Indian Open winner, Veer Ahlawat finished a frustrating round of one-under 71 with a stunning final-hole ‘eagle’ to gate-crash into the tied second spot on his home course here.

Soon, the “nervous” Japanese signed off with an unusual bogey-bogey-bogey finish for a one-over 73 – his worst card of the week – that was good enough to give him a four-shot victory at the DLF Golf and Country Club here.

For the record, Nakajima’s record winning-score of 17-under 271 was worth $382,500. The trio of Ahlawat, Sweden’s Sebastian Soderberg and USA’s Johannes Veerman tallied 275 and received $167,250 each.

After leading the field by a whopping nine shots at times on Sunday and assuming the title was his for the asking, Nakajima played aggressively on the back-nine. He saved a few pars but went on to double-bogey the 14th hole – a par-4 where he dropped a shot in three previous rounds – birdied the next before bogey-spree.

For Nakajima, the maiden DP World Tour title came on the 11th appearance in his ‘rookie’ season on the Tour. This 23-year-old topped last year’s Japan Golf Tour Order of Merit. Before turning professional in 2022, Nakajima was the World’s top amateur for 87 weeks during which he surpassed Jon Rahm’s record of 60 weeks.

ALSO READ | Indian Open: Focus on comeback man Lahiri ahead of Paris 2024 Olympics

The triumph could raise Nakajima’s world ranking from 111 to a career-high 80 – eight rungs over his previous career-best ranking earned in January 2024. Before this title, his previous best finish this season was fourth in the Ras Al Khaimah Championship.

Any hope of a close finish evaporated soon on Sunday. Armed with a four-shot cushion, Nakajima birdied the first, fourth and sixth holes to move to -21. Concurrently, Nakajima’s playing partners Gavin Green and Romain Langasque lost their way.

But Soderberg and Veerman, placed 15th and 16th after three rounds, made a charge.

Soderberg shot six birdies during the bogey-free 17 holes before finishing the week with a bogey for a 67. Veerman, two shots behind Soderman before reaching the 18th tee, birdied the final hole and gained from the bogey from Soderberg to be joint-second before Ahlawat joined them.