Hard-earned win for Amardip Sinh Malik at ONGC Masters 2017

Noida's Amardip Sinh Malik today came up with a tenacious display in the final round of the ONGC Masters 2017 to bag a hard-earned victory at his home course, the Noida Golf Course.
Malik shot a four-over-76 in round four but still came through by one stroke at 12-under-276 to pocket his second title.
Delhi's Kapil Kumar carded an even-par-72 to finish runner-up at 11-under-277 at the Rs. 50 lakh event.
Amardip Sinh Malik (66-66-68-76), the overnight leader by five shots, didn't have it easy on the final day but still managed to stay ahead of the chasing pack thus ending his three-year victory drought.

The 32-year-old Amardip began the day with a birdie but then was in trouble on the second where he dropped a double bogey after his putt horse-shoed (lipped out and came back towards him). The local favourite dropped a couple of more strokes on the sixth and 12th but continued to soak up the pressure and kept the lead.
Malik survived a few nervous moments on the 18th as well after his drive found the trees. He sank a crucial two and a half feet bogey putt on the finishing hole to finally seal the win. Amardip, who took home the winning prize of Rs. 7,50,000, has now moved up from 11th to sixth place in the PGTI Order of Merit.

A relieved Malik said, "It wasn't an easy win. I had a poor start and also had my nervous moments. But these things do happen when youre playing in the leader group during the final round. One has to be prepared for such situations. But I'm happy that I kept my nerve and fought till the end."

Kapil Kumar (68-67-70-72), Malik's closest challenger on the final day, fell just short as he couldn't take his chances on the greens.
Bengaluru's R Murthy (69) and Om Prakash Chouhan (71) of Mhow finished tied third at 10-under-278.
Vikrant Chopra, who finished fifth at nine-under-279, and Rahul Bajaj, who secured tied eighth at seven-under-281, were the other two Noida-based golfers to claim top-10 finishes.