PUNE: Veer Ahlawat claimed his second career title with a three-shot victory at the Pune Open golf championship here on Saturday, ending a jinx of runner-up finishes.
Ahlawat, 24, comfortably held on to his overnight lead as he carded 4-under 62 for 19-under 245 overall in the final round of the Rs. 40 lakh PGTI Tour event at the Poona Club.
The Gurugram lad's maiden title had come almost three years ago at the Indian Oil Servo Masters in November, 2019.
"It has been a while. Especially, there have been a few close ones that I had not been able to finish off," said a visibly relieved Ahlawat, who moves up six spots to 11th in the Order of Merit list.
"It did bother my mind, but I had a chat and we just noted that my fourth round needs to be good.
Delhi's Kapil Kumar, who held the lead in the early two rounds, finished second at 16-under 248 after signing a card of 64.
Mysore's Yashas Chandra carded the day's best round of six-under 60 to finish at tied third with Sri Lankan N Thangaraja, with 15-under 249.
Another Gurugram lad, Manu Gandas, and Noida's Rashid Khan finished tied fifth with matching totals of 14-under 250.
Between his first title in Digboi, Assam, and now, Ahlawat had had 10 top-10 finishes — three of them runner-ups.
He said getting ahead of the game had proven to be his undoing on those occasions.
"Golf is such a game where a round can be four and a half or five hours. You need to be focused on the present. I used to plan the next three holes," he said.
"I would think about winning a lot. Now I have learnt to focus on the process and not worry about the result."
What must have made Ahlawat happier was his short game, which proved to be crucial on a course that had received copious rains in the lead-up and on the first two days of the event.
"With the pro-am cancelled we had to directly play the first round," he said. "My short game was good. I had put in a lot of work on my chipping, and it helped.
"This win means hell a lot. It is a big boost for my confidence as I go back to the Asian Tour."
Ahlawat will be in action in Morocco, Egypt, Dhaka and Jakarta next.
