Marrakech (Morocco), June 23: Indian golfer Karandeep Kochhar produced a bogey-free final round 7-under 65 but fell agonisingly short, finishing one stroke behind Filipino Aidric Chan to sign off with a runner-up finish at the Morocco Rising Stars Marrakech.
Seeking his first win outside India as a pro, Kochhar finished 17-under with rounds of 70-67-69-65 while Chan shot a 7-under 65 in the final round to be 18-under at the Samanah Golf Club.
While Kochhar was the top Indian at the end of the week, the other Indians who made the cut were Ajeetesh Sandhu (12-under,m T-13), Khalin Joshi (9-under, T-34), Rahil Gangjee (7-under, T-43), Arjun Sharma (6-under, T-45) and Aman Raj (2-under, T-51).
Kochhar had seven birdies, made on the first, fourth, ninth, 10th, 12th, 16th and 17th holes.
Sandhu played a round of 4-under 68 on the final day to secure his top 15 finish, while Joshi, who was in the top 10 at the end of the third round, played a round of even par on the final day to fall out of the top 10.
Gangjee played even par round to finish tied 43. Arjun Sharma played a round of 3-under 69 on the final day to close the week at tied 45 while Aman Raj ended his week with an even par round to finish tied 51.
The win secures Chan a spot in next month’s International Series Morocco, which has a prize pool of USD 2 million.
Chan is now very likely to graduate to the Asian Tour at the end of the season. He started the round with a birdie and immediately dropped a shot on the second hole but after that he would go on to make seven more birdies and avoid bogeys to secure the title. His scores this week were 64-72-69-65. (PTI)
