Rashid edges out Cheema in playoff

Delhi's Rashid Khan defeated rookie Angad Cheema of Panchkula in a playoff to win the BILT Open 2013 at the Jaypee Greens Golf Resort here today.
Rashid and Cheema headed for the playoff after ending the regulation 72 holes with identical totals of 16-under-272. Rashid finally prevailed on the second playoff hole.
Kolkata's SSP Chowrasia (70-65-67-71), who was overnight second, was in touch with the leader Rashid after his two birdies on the first 10 holes. However, he dropped out of the race after a bogey on the 16th and finally finished one stroke behind Rashid and Cheema at 15-under-273 to claim third place.

Chandigarh's Harendra Gupta (11-under-277) and Rahil Gangjee (10-under-278) of Kolkata finished fourth and fifth, respectively.
Jyoti Randhawa finished tied 12th at five-under-283.
Rashid (64-68-69-71), the overnight leader by one stroke, had an eventful start to the day as he made birdie-bogey-birdie on the second, third and fourth holes.

His three-putt on the third was followed by a fabulous up and down from 120 yards on the fourth. Rashid, the wire-to-wire leader from round one till the end, sank birdie putts from 10 to 15 feet on the 11th and 13th to maintain a slender one shot lead over nearest competitor Chowrasia.

Rashid hit a rough patch from the 14th to the 16th. A wrong club-selection resulted in a bogey for him on the 14th. He then dropped another stroke after finding the trees on the 16th and ended the day with a one-under-71.
Cheema (69-69-68-66), who ended round three in third place, made seven birdies against a lone bogey in the final round to post a 66 and take the match into a playoff.
A winner on the Feeder Tour in 2013, Cheema rolled in birdie putts from eight to 15 feet on the second, fourth and 10th before dropping his only bogey of the day on the 11th.

The 23-year-old sank a 15-footer on the 13th and chipped-in on the 17th on his way to a four-birdie burst on the last six holes. Cheema thus joined Rashid in the playoff even as Chowrasia's challenge faded away after he posted a 71 on the final day.