Hyderabad’s Azhar Clinches Kolar Open Golf Tournament Title
Chandigarh’s Angad Cheema (73-68-67-73), a four-time winner on the tour, and Delhi’s Shaurya Bhattacharya (68-67-71-75), a three-time winner, shared second place at seven-under 281.
Kolar: Hyderabad golfer Mohammed Azhar produced a consistent performance to card a one-under 71 and clinch his maiden professional title at the `1 crore Kolar Open here on Friday. The 27-year-old Azhar (70-68-70-71) finished at nine-under 279 to secure a two-shot victory and collect the winner’s cheque of Rs 15 lakh.
He also climbed seven places, from 17th to 10th, in the 2026 DP World PGTI Order of Merit, taking his season’s earnings to Rs 35,14,675.
Chandigarh’s Angad Cheema (73-68-67-73), a four-time winner on the tour, and Delhi’s Shaurya Bhattacharya (68-67-71-75), a three-time winner, shared second place at seven-under 281.
Azhar, who joined the professional tour in 2020, began the final round two shots behind Bhattacharya. He stayed patient through testing spells of wind and rain and created enough opportunities to move ahead as the tournament reached its decisive stage.
“Today was very good and I’m extremely happy with the way I played. The conditions were difficult with the wind and rain, but I stayed patient and focused on finding greens in regulation,” said Azhar.
Azhar reached the par-five second in two shots and made a comfortable two-putt birdie. He then struck his approach close for a tap-in birdie on the fourth.
One of the biggest moments of his round arrived on the 12th, where he holed a putt from around 30 to 35 feet for birdie. “I created several birdie opportunities and managed to convert enough of them,” he said.
“The long putt on the 12th was one of the highlights. On the back nine, I tried to play solidly and make pars whenever a birdie opportunity was not available,” he added.
The victory completed a significant step forward for Azhar, whose previous best result on the PGTI was a tied-second finish at the Boulders Classic in April.
