Rahil Gangjee, at 45, showed he can beat the young guns
45-year-old Rahil Gangjee, a former winner on the Asian and Japan Tours led the Indian challenge, finishing 2nd with four Indians in the top 10 at the US$ 300,000 European Challenge Tour event at Royal Calcutta Golf Club.
Rahil carded rounds of 70-68-67-69 to register a joint runner-up finish at 14-under par, two-strokes behind the winner, Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen of Denmark, who won with rounds of 68-65-68-71 to win the title at 16-under 272.
This was a better performance from the Indians than the previous week’s European Challenge Tour event in Delhi, where the best finish by any Indian was a disappointing 14th.
Gangjee entered the final round trailing Petersen by four strokes, and by the 12th hole, the lead was cut to one stroke. However, Petersen made back-to-back birdies on 13 and 14 to runaway with the title.
Udayan Mane and Veer Ahlawat shared the opening round lead at 5-under par, but only Ahlawat managed to register a tied-5th place finish, as the second-best Indian 10-under par.
The 2023 PGTI Ranking leader Om Prakash Chouhan, who earned full playing rights on the 2024 European Tour, and Angad Cheema tied for 8th on 9-under par.
Photo – PGTI