Khalin Joshi finishes 6th in Bali

Edited by Anand Datla

June 28, 2015: Matthew Giles of Australia sank a clutch birdie putt on the last hole to win the US$76,000 Bali National Golf Championship by one-shot on Sunday. The 25-year-old was tied with Lindsay Renolds of Canada before holing a 30-feet birdie to win his first Asian Development Tour (ADT) title with a closing three-under-par 69 at the Bali National Golf Club. Indian Khalin Joshi made a final round 71 to finish in sixth position.

Joshi stumbled in the first half of his round, making four bogeys in a 39 shot journey through the first nine holes. Right on cue though, Joshi sank an eagle putt at the 10th before following up with a birdie at the 11th to repair some of the damage. Two more birdies helped him navigate the second nine in 32 shots, capping off a good week in Bali.

Himmat Rai settled for ninth after making two double bogeys and two other bogeys in a round of 74 on Sunday. Chiragh Kumar dropped seven spots to 15th – five bogeys and a double bogey smoking away any hopes for a higher finish.

Renolds, who led by two shots early in the round, shot a 68 to settle for his fourth runner-up finish on the ADT while Sutijet Kooratanapisan of Thailand and current Order of Merit leader Hsieh Chi-hsien of Chinese Taipei finished third and fourth respectively.

“It is always nice to make a putt on the 18th hole to win an event. It feels fantastic. It has been a great week,” said Giles, who totalled 12-under-par 276 to win US$13,300 and earn six valuable Official World Golf Ranking points.

Giles got off to a slow start when he turned in one-over-par 36 but bounced back on his homeward nine with five birdies against one bogey. “This is a demanding course. There are holes where you can make birdies or eagles but if you hit a bad shot then you will be punished. Every hole has its own little challenge. I just stayed in the moment and thankfully it worked out. The front nine is more challenging. I grinded out on the front and was lucky enough to birdie 10, 11, 13 and 15. I think I probably played 10 or nine-under on the back nine for the tournament,” he smiled.

It was a case of so close but yet so far for Renolds, who holed seven birdies against three bogeys to charge in contention before being defeated by Giles’ brilliant birdie finish. “I had a lot of demons in the past with how I finished events but I didn’t give the tournament away because Matthew Giles made a really good putt on the last to win. It is not a good way of losing but it is the way a tournament should be won,” said Phuket-based Renolds.

After earning an Asian Tour card at Qualifying School earlier this year, Renolds hopes to carry this momentum heading into the second half of the season on the region’s premier Tour. “The more you give yourself opportunities, the closer you come to a win. This is a good confidence booster heading into the Asian Tour. There are a lot of positives this week. I didn’t really make any mistakes. I had a few bad shots but that happens in golf,” he explained.

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Source: Asian Development Tour