It was a brilliantly consistent fare from Ollie Schniederjans as he wound up with a 10-under 178, and beat fellow American and two-time Major champion Bryson DeChambeau by four shots, in the International Series golf championship, in front of packed arena, at the DLF here on Sunday.
The 31-year-old Ollie, a former world No.1 amateur player who had grappled with hip surgeries and tackled many months away from the game, was phenomenal in tackling the challenges of the tough course with rounds of 71, 69, 69, 69 over the four days.
In fact, the delayed starts owing to the fog, meant that Ollie along with most, had to play 27 holes for the day, as the players finished their third round in the morning and continued without any break with the fourth round, in the shotgun format.
The champion collected $3,60,000 and Bryson, who shot the best round of the whole tournament a 7-under 65 for the day, had to settle for $2,40,000.
“This golf course is very demanding. I had to stay really focused and execute. You can make a mess of it any time. This win gives me a lot of confidence,” said Ollie.
Happy to find his rhythm, playing regularly for the past year, Ollie felt it as “great fun” competing on the Asian Tour.
More than beating Bryson, he was particularly thrilled to have played in the same group with the overnight leader, Joaquin NIemann of Chile.
“It was amazing to play 27 holes today with Niemann. He is extremely special, playing his type of game. It takes everything you have got, to compete against these guys,” said Ollie.
More than the very strong field, Ollie was pleased to have hit “perfect shots for four days” as “you get punished for the poor shots”.
He said that there was no time to correct the errors after the day, and that he had to “self correct” as he continued to tackle the course through the day.
Among the Indians, Anirban Lahiri returned his best score of 4-under 68 for the day, and finished joint 10th with a 2-over 290, collecting $32,083 for his effort.
Gaganjeet Bhullar was joint 24th, and pocketed $17,950.
The 15-year-old amateur, Kartik Singh was joint 53rd with a 15-over 303. The experience from the competitive field would do him a world of good, more than any money he could have earned had he been a professional.
Two-time Major champion, the former World No.1 for 331 weeks, Greg Norman, who had won 88 pro titles, enlivened the trophy presentation with his presence.
The results: 1. Ollie Schniederjans (USA) (71, 69, 69, 69) 278; 2. Bryson DeChambeau (USA) (71, 72, 74, 65) 282; 3T. Joaquin Niemann (Chi) (70, 68, 77, 71) 286, Abraham Ancer (Mex) (72, 71, 71, 72) 286; 5T. Kazuki Higa (Jpn) (69, 71, 72, 76), Sebastian Munoz (Col) (73, 72, 69, 74), Eugenio Chacarra (Esp) (68, 74, 73, 73) 288; 8T. Kevin Yuan (Aus) (73, 73, 69, 74), Chase Koepka (USA) (70, 72, 75, 72) 289; 10. Travis Smyth (Aus) (72, 69, 73, 76), Richard Lee (Can) (74, 76, 67, 73), Scott Vincent (Zim) (77, 71, 76, 66), Charlie LIndh (Swe) (71, 73, 72, 74), Anirban Lahiri (72, 71, 79, 68), Justin Quiban (Phi) (70, 71, 78, 71) 290; 24T. Gaganjeet Bhullar (73, 73, 72, 77) 295; 39T. Karandeep Kochhar (79, 73, 73, 72) 297; 45T. Yuvraj Sandhu (78, 73, 77, 71) 299; 48T. Shubhankar Sharma (78, 72, 73, 77) 300; 52. SSP Chawrasia (74, 77, 77, 74) 302; 53T. Kartik Singh (A) (77, 71, 80, 75) 303; 61T. Shiv Kapur (77, 75, 77, 76) 305; 66T. Ajeetesh Sandhu (73, 76, 83, 75) 307; 68. Rahil Gangjee (75, 76, 75, 83) 309.
Published – February 02, 2025 08:00 pm IST