Chawrasia successfully defends Hero Indian Open

India’s S.S.P Chawrasia carded a final round of 71 at DLF G&CC to finish seven shots clear of Malaysia’s Gavin Green and successfully defend his Hero Indian Open title.

S.S.P Chawrasia completed four rounds at DLF G&CC in a total of 10-under-par 278, seven better than his nearest challenger Gavin Green. Chawrasia became the first Indian player to successfully defend a European Tour title and he has now won four European Tour events, all of them in his home country.

Chawrasia had seven holes of his third round to complete when he arrived at DLF G&CC on Sunday after lightning had delayed play on the first two days. He came out of the blocks at a pace, birdying the 13th, 14th and 15th holes.

Into the fourth and final round, Chawrasia started strongly and, when he picked up a stroke at the fourth, he moved four clear of the pack. The 38-year-old’s lead was stretched to five by the turn and he was never threatened on the run for home.

Gavin Green finished with a 75 and that was good enough for him to secure second place – his first European Tour top-10. Scott Jamieson of Scotland ended the week tied for third with Italy’s Matteo Manassero.

4 Talking points from the Hero Indian Open

1 – This was S.S.P Chawrasia’s fourth European Tour title, all four of them have been secured in India. He hadn’t been enjoying a particularly good season to this point, his best finish having been a tie for 35th in the ISPS HANDA World Super 6 Perth. Since the Hero Indian Open became a fixture on the European Tour schedule, only home players have tasted success: Anirban Lahiri in 2015 and now Chawrasia in back-to-back seasons. “I was very happy to have everyone supporting me and having my wife here too to see me winning the Indian Open two times back to back. I’m just very, very happy,” he said afterwards.

2 – Matteo Manassero enjoyed his best result of the season – a tie for third. It was his best finish on the European Tour since last year’s Scottish Open. “I'm really happy with my week and looking positively to the future. A top five finish is always positive, I'm really happy with that,” he said.

A morning with Matteo Manassero:

3 – Another man showing a welcome return to form was Scotland’s Scott Jamieson, he finished tied with Manassero in third place. This was his best result on the European Tour since 2014. “The front nine was good,” he said. “I had a couple of funny shots in there as well, particularly on six, but managed to make a few birdies. They dried up a bit on the back nine. The key whenever you are in trouble is just to make sure that a bogey is the worst you're going to make and pick up some birdies when you can. I was probably a little bit timid on some of my birdie tries that didn't quite make the hole, but it was a good week."

4 – Prayad Marksaeng of Thailand made the first albatross of the 2017 European Tour season. He holed his approach to the 18th with a four-iron.

Hero Indian Open DLF G&CC, New Delhi, India Mar 9-12 Purse: €1,650,000 Par: 72

1    S.S.P Chawrasia (Ind)    72    67    68    71    278    €275,828 2    Gavin Green (Mas)    72    73    65    75    285    €188,885 T3    Scott Jamieson (Sco)    70    74    70    72    286    €93,177 T3    Matteo Manassero (Ita)    68    73    72    73    286    €93,177 T5    Rafa Cabrera Bello (Esp) 73    73    70    71    287    €59,249 T5    Anirban Lahiri (Ind)    76    73    67    71    287    €59,249 T5    Carlos Pigem (Esp)    69    73    67    78    287    €59,249 T8    George Coetzee (RSA)    73    74    69    72    288    €37,182 T8    Michael Hoey (NIR)    71    71    71    75    288    €37,182 T8    David Horsey (Eng)    66    74    76    72    288    €37,182

Note: Player score in bold signifies Titleist ball usage