Tabuena battles to title win at The DGC Open presented by Mastercard

Miguel Tabuena overturned a six-shot deficit to beat overnight leader and home favourite Rashid Khan in the second edition of The DGC Open presented by Mastercard on Sunday. It was the third Asian Tour win and the first since 2018 for the 29-year-old fron the Philippines.

A closing par on the 72nd hole of the tournament was enough to give Tabuena a one-shot win on 12-under par 276 (68-71-72-65), while Rashid Khan returned an 11-under total of 277 (67-70-68-72). Tabuena also became only the second Filipino to win in India since Ben Arda, who won the Indian Open in 1969 at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club.

The winning total this year was a substantial improvement in the seven-under par 281 recorded by Thailand’s Nitithorn Thippong, who held on to beat Ajeetesh Sandhu of India in an extra hole playoff at the Delhi Golf Club.

Three Indians finished in the top five of the $750,000 tournament even as Thai veteran Chapchai Nirat took sole third place at 10-under par 278 (68-71-71-68) and two-time Indian Open winner Shiv Shankar Prasad Chawrasia was fourth on seven-under 281 (72-70-71-68) finishing with a bogey-free round.

Home golfers Gaganjeet Bhullar (69), Om Prakash Chouhan (72) and Honey Baisoya (72) all tied for sixth place at six-under 282 along with Thailand’s Suteepat Prateeptienchai (69).

The stocky Tabuena shot seven birdies in a bogey-free card of 65 to rein in runaway leader Rashid Khan who started the three shots ahead of the field and six ahead of the eventual winner.

Chapchai made a run midway through his round but was unable to maintain the momentum.

Bangalore’s Chikkarangappa S. (72), second after 54 holes, finished fourth, and is still to win on the Asian Tour though he now has 11 top-10 finishes on the continental circuit.

“I called my wife first after winning and then my mom, but she didn't answer so I called my dad a few seconds after and I told him that this win was for him,” Tabuena said later.

“He went through a lot last year and we were very lucky in the end he is still here. He is doing very well now, but I missed half the year (on the Asian Tour) last year, playing less than 10 events and it was very hard to keep my card for this year. I was lucky enough to play well in the latter part of the year. “I was very nervous today. The Delhi Golf Club is one of the hardest courses we play on the Asian Tour, more so mentally as it's very demanding off the tee. You know you got to hit it straight and it's possible catch a five-shot lead. I've been playing really, really well the past three days and not gone over par which is very hard to do here.

“So, we stuck to our game plan and we gave ourselves shots from the fairway. It's very hard to go for the flags from from the rough at the DGC and I told myself to just keep being solid of the tee, and my putter hass been pretty hot the past few tournaments. And capitalise on the Par-5s which is what I did the whole tournament. “Rashid is a very aggressive player. He certainly has the length, I saw that he hit driver on the 18th to give himself the best chance possible for making an eagle. He almost won last year as well in Taiwan and he's very, very streaky. It's very hard to to get into double digits under par at DGC and he did it in three days! “I hit a lot of three-irons, four-irons and my hybrid, so those were the money clubs this week for me and I knew that coming in. I have played this course a number of times and I'm really glad I figured it out. I was very proud of the way I stayed patient this whole week, I just stuck to my game plan and came out very lucky at the end.” Added Khan, “I wasn't hitting it well at all and the worst part was that this is the first time in my life where I couldn't hit hard. I wasn't able to swing it well. I have a problem in my swing which I'm working on and I played this week only on my putter, that's it. And I just didn't hole my putts today.

“On the 17th, I had to go for it. I was trying to hit my 8-iron and I thinned it again and ended up making a bogey. So you know when you are two shots back and going into the last hole, that's different. If I had gone aggressive today, the score could have been even worse. During the break, I went to the range and was hitting it well but on the golf course it was a different story.”

Chapchai was pleased with his third place. “Yeah, my game is coming back with a second top 10 after Qatar this year but still has some way to go. I have only come back after two years off from the game where I was coaching my team of youngsters. “Then I come back last year and definitely I need more practice. I need to come back stronger. But I’m really, really happy. I have been working with my coach and some results are starting to come but still long way to go. “Today I just wanted to keep it on the fairway and reach the greens and mostly I did that. Only missed fairway on 14 but I came back well. Greens also were very firm, much more than last year but I have to say very good course, very happy overall.”