By V. Krishnaswamy, IANS
Gurgaon : New Zealander Mark Brown continued his love affair with India, registering his second win in as many weeks as Sunday he added the Johnnie Walker Classic to the SAIL Open Golf he won last week.
The twin wins have virtually turned his life around in just a fortnight as he earns an exemption into both Asian and European and his home tour in Australia till the end of 2010.
Brown, lying tied second at the end of the third round, hit a purple patch on the DLF Golf and Country Club greens with five birdies in his last seven holes to cap a dream run in this tri-sanctioned event. It was his third top-5 finish in four starts in India since last October. Brown shot a 67 to finish at 18-under 270 and three shots clear of the trio in second place.
Last week the Wellington-born Brown was a mere one shot ahead for most of the round but when the end came he was four clear. This week, one behind at the start and nowhere in the picture till the turn, he finished a winner by three, as Taichiro Kiyota (71), Greg Chalmers (68) and Scott Strange (67) tied for second 15-under 273.
India’s best finisher was Shiv Kapur (68), who had even contemplated pulling out at the start of the week due to flu. Jyoti Randhawa, a strong contender till he struck a double bogey on fifth, had his third successive top-10 finish in as many week.
Rounding off another great week for Indian golf was Jeev Milkha Singh (69) in tied 11th at 11-under 277 and Arjun Atwal (71) at nine-under 279 in tied 17th, giving India four players in top-20.
In a final round that had an amazing number of twists and turns, Brown actually came into the reckoning only after the 12th. At the end of the 11th, he was only 13-under and way behind the leaders, Kiyota and Strange in turns.
“I guess I love India and you can be sure I am going to be back here,” said Brown, who turned 33 Saturday
India’s top finisher Kapur said: “I can’t say I’m satisfied as you always say you can do better. But it’s a bit of redemption from the Indian Masters. It’s nice that I came out to play well and I had a chance to win. Only if you win, you can be satisfied. How I finished, feels good. I feel my game is in the right direction and that week will come around. I’m happy but not satisfied.”
Randhawa said: “I was close but I am sure things will come around soon.”
Among other Indians, Rahil Gangjee (72) was tied 30th with seven-under, Mukesh Kumar (75) was 44th at four-under 284, Arjun Singh (75) was 53rd at one-under, Gaganjeet Bhullar (74) 58th at even par, Digvijay Singh (78) 63rd at three-over 291 and Rahul Ganapathy (77) 64th at five-over 293.