Chiagmai, Thailand: Rashid Khan of India produced an extraordinary effort of four-under-68 on the final day of the Chiangmai Golf Classic to claim his second Asian Tour title. Rashid, who posted his first overseas win on Sunday, totaled 17-under-271 for the week. Jyoti Randhawa’s joint runner-up finish at 16-under-272 made it two Indians in the top-3. Randhawa shot a 69 in the final round to share second place with Thai golfer Thanyakon Khrongpha.

Rashid Khan (68-69-66-68), who began the day two off the lead in tied second place, delivered five birdies against a lone bogey in the final round. Rashid started well with a birdie on the second before heavy rain forced suspension of play. He suffered a setback soon after play resumed as he bogeyed the seventh courtesy a poor tee shot that led to a lost ball.

Rashid then rallied with a tap-in birdie on the 10th and another birdie on the 12th. A long birdie putt on the 14th helped Rashid overtake Khrongpha and take the outright lead. He further consolidated with a brilliant par save from the bunker on the par-3 15th. The 23-year-old held on with pars on the next three holes to win his second Asian Tour title of the year. His only previous win on the Asian Tour came at the SAIL-SBI Open earlier this year at his home course, the Delhi Golf Club.

Rashid’s win on Sunday accounted for his seventh professional title and pushed him up from 22nd place to eighth position on the Asian Tour Order of Merit.

Rashid’s victory was also the 65th by an Indian at the international level. It was the sixth title triumph by an Indian in the 2014 Asian Tour season. Anirban Lahiri has two wins to his name this year while SSP Chowrasia and Chikkarangappa have one each.



Jyoti Randhawa (68-65-70-69) seemed to be back at the top of his game as he earned a creditable runner-up finish after a final round of 69 that saw him make five birdies and two bogeys. The nine-time Asian Tour winner had a slow start with a bogey on the first but then made a charge with birdies on the fourth, sixth and eighth. He sank a mammoth 50-footer on the sixth. A poor tee shot resulted in a bogey on the 11th. Jyoti tried to come back in the game with birdies on the 14th and 15th but could not catch up with Rashid till the end.



PGTI member Mithun Perera of Sri Lanka finished tied fifth at 13-under-275.



Chikkarangappa was the third Indian in the top-20 as he bagged tied 16th place at seven-under-281.



Among the other Indians who made the cut, Chiragh Kumar (four-under-284) was tied 31st, Shubhankar Sharma (one-under-281) was tied 46th, M Dharma (four-over-292) was tied 60th and Abhijit Chadha (five-over-293) was 63rd.