So close for Ghei on home soil

Gaurav Ghei did not quite get the birthday present he wanted or deserved but with the day's best card of six-under 66 in the final round at the Hero Honda Indian Open, he put in a performance worthy of a champion.

But in the final analysis he was second to Thaworn Wiratchant of Thailand, who played like a winner all through the week and won by two shots to grab his third title of the year with a 16-under-par 272 winning total.

Indian players took five places in the top 10, and 10 in the top-20, which once again underlined the growing strength of Indian golf.

Former Asian number one Jyoti Randhawa, who found birdies difficult to come by on the back nine, was tied sixth with Mukesh Kumar. Shiv Kapur overcame a horrendous start with a bogey and double bogey in first four holes to shoot a 69 that ensured a fourth top-10 finish in his last five starts.

At eight-under for the event he was tied for eighth with Ashok Kumar (68) and Rick Gibson of Canada (69).

Ghei may well have been the winner, but for a streak of bad luck as he missed three birdies putts in a row from 14th to the 16th holes. "It was heart-breaking. On the 14th, the ball lipped out from two and a half feet and on 15th I missed a five-footer and on 16th, the ball stopped half a roll short. So that chip-in for birdie on 18th was a welcome relief," said Ghei, who celebrated his 37th birthday today.

For Ghei, who has had four top-20 finishes, it was a flashback from 10 years ago. Ghei, who has to his credit one of the most famous shots in Indian golf – the chipped-in eagle for the title at the Gadgil Western Masters in 1995 – did almost the same on the 18th once again. The slight difference was that the chip-in from 35 yards fetched only a birdie and he ended second.

As Ghei was getting ready for the chip on the 18th in an attempt to get to a par after failing to reach the green in two, he admitted that he was reminded of 1995. "A spectator walked in my line, and reminded me of 1995. I took it as good omen as the same happened that year. I chipped and lo behold it rolled in. That felt good," said Ghei.

Quite interestingly, Ghei was second when Hero Honda first sponsored the Hero Honda Masters in 1997 and eight years on, the hugely popular Delhi golfer was once again second as the Indian Open goes to the same sponsor.

Arjun Atwal, who birdied the first and the last had 16 pars in between for a 70 that saw him finished tied 11th with two other Indians, Jaiveer Virk, who crumbled under pressure for a 74, and the smiling Shamim Khan, who was an epitome of consistency with his fourth successive sub-par round of 71.

October 30, 2005

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