Honey wins again, extends lead in PGTI Order of Merit

Delhi golfer Honey Baisoya secured his second successive win on the PGTI tour with a four-stroke triumph at the inaugural Paramount GolfForeste Delhi - NCR Open Golf Championship here today.

The 21-year-old Baisoya followed up his win in Pune last week with an emphatic victory at the the Noida Golf Course after coming up with a determined two-under-70 in the final round to total 11-under-277 for the week.

Baisoya's sixth professional title helped him extend his lead in the PGTI Order of Merit. With season's earnings of Rs. 17,02,535, Honey is now almost Rs. 5 lakh ahead of second-placed N Thangaraja of Sri Lanka in the money list.

Om Prakash Chouhan of Mhow and Delhi's Shamim Khan, the overnight leader, struggled in round four with scores of 74 and 75 respectively to finish joint runners-up at seven-under-281.

Honey (70-69-68-70), who was tied second and one off the lead after round three, was one-over through eight holes on Friday and fighting hard for the title against the likes of Shamim Khan, Om Prakash Chouhan and Shankar Das.

Honey, who hails from the Delhi Golf Club, then strung together three consecutive birdies from the ninth to the 11th to emerge as the top favourite. But a double-bogey on the 12th reduced his lead to just one shot.

However, he finally broke away from the rest of the field with a crucial 13-feet birdie conversion on the 13th. Four pars that followed along with another long birdie putt on the last hole ensured that he sailed home with a comfortable margin. It was his third victory at the Noida Golf Course.

Baisoya, who had also won with an impressive seven-shot margin in Pune last week, said, After some ordinary starts this week, I felt I came back well in the latter half of my round on most days. I knew two or three birdies towards the end of each round would keep me in the contest.

"I managed to do that. In fact, the two eagles in round three really lifted my confidence. The long eagle conversion on the 17th yesterday set up the tournament for me."
"I feel the turning point then came with the birdie on the 13th. The long birdie conversion there helped me make a quick recovery from my double-bogey on the previous hole. I made a few mistakes today but still managed to win. It was the same story when I won here the last time."