In the end, it was the three three-putts in the first seven holes that put the LG Noida Open title beyond his reach as Abhishek Jha (71) prevailed. Jha played his first under-par round of the week and his score of two-under 70 took him level par for the tournament. Rashid made a brave try but the Delhi boy was let down by his putter on the front-nine and had to be content with a second-place finish, four behind the winner.

“I was four-over after seven holes and seven behind the leader. I clawed my way back, but Abhishek kept hitting birdies ,” Rashid said.

On the 16th, four behind the leader, a swing of fortunes seemed eminent for Rashid but there was no stopping the boy from Eagleton who first used his putter to get his ball out of the bunker and then made a 15 footer for par to stay well ahead.

“There was a lump of sand behind the ball and I could not have made the chip stop near the pin. So I decided to putt it out of the bunker and it paid off. The putt for par gave me breathing space going into the last two holes and I wasn’t really worried after that,” explained Jha, after winning his third title on the tour.

Local player Jasjeet Singh carded 70 to finish third.

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