Kolar: Hyderabad golfer Mohd Azhar claimed his maiden professional title after carding a one-under 71 in the final round of the INR 1 crore Kolar Open presented by ZION Hills Golf County on Friday.
The 27-year-old, who posted rounds of 70, 68, 70 and 71, finished at nine-under 279 to seal a two-shot victory at Zion Hills Golf County on the outskirts of Bengaluru.
Azhar collected the winner’s cheque of INR 15 lakh and climbed seven places from 17th to 10th in the 2026 DP World PGTI Order of Merit. His season’s earnings now stand at INR 35,14,675.
Chandigarh’s Angad Cheema (73-68-67-73) and Delhi’s Shaurya Bhattacharya (68-67-71-75) shared second place at seven-under 281.
Cheema, a four-time winner on the tour, registered his second runner-up finish of the season after also finishing tied second at the Boulders Classic in April.
Late mistakes cost Bhattacharya
Bhattacharya, a three-time winner on tour, began the final round with a two-shot lead and remained in control until the closing holes.
But consecutive double bogeys on the 17th and 18th proved costly and left him two shots behind Azhar.
It was another narrow miss at Zion Hills for Bhattacharya, who also finished runner-up in the inaugural edition last year, two shots behind Kshitij Naveed Kaul.
Azhar, who turned professional in 2020, began the final round two shots behind Bhattacharya. He stayed patient through spells of wind and rain and continued to create scoring opportunities as the contest tightened.
“Today was very good and I’m extremely happy with the way I played,” Azhar said. “The conditions were difficult with the wind and rain, but I stayed patient and focused on finding greens in regulation.”
Azhar stays composed under pressure
Azhar reached the par-five second in two shots and made a comfortable two-putt birdie. He followed it with another birdie on the fourth after hitting his approach close for a tap-in.
One of the key moments of his round came on the 12th, where he sank a putt from around 30 to 35 feet for birdie.
“I created several birdie opportunities and managed to convert enough of them,” he said. “The long putt on the 12th was one of the highlights. On the back nine, I tried to play solidly and make pars whenever a birdie opportunity was not available.”
The victory marked another step forward for Azhar, whose previous best result on the DP World PGTI was a tied-second finish at the Boulders Classic in April.
His breakthrough has also come ahead of the tour’s visit to his hometown of Hyderabad in the coming weeks.
“This win gives me a lot of confidence for the upcoming events,” Azhar said. “I’m particularly excited about returning to Hyderabad, where both the Hyderabad Golf Association and Vooty Golf County feel like home courses to me.”
Veer Ahlawat finishes fourth
Gurugram’s Veer Ahlawat (71-71-69-71), the 2024 DP World PGTI Rankings champion, finished alone in fourth place at six-under 282.
Defending champion Kshitij Naveed Kaul (73-75-66-69) of Delhi and Badal Hossain (69-72-69-73) shared fifth place at five-under 283.
Current DP World PGTI Order of Merit leader Saptak Talwar (72-71-70-74), who spent the summer competing on the HotelPlanner Tour, finished 10th at one-under 287.
Talwar earned INR 2 lakh and strengthened his position at the top of the rankings, taking his season’s earnings to INR 86,33,234.
The tournament is supported by Title Partner ZION Hills Golf County, DP World PGTI’s Umbrella Partner DP World, along with Tour Partners Axis Bank, Amul, Amrutanjan Enerlyte, Air India Maharaja Club, Campa and Kalyani.
