Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen held his nerve on the final day of the Kolkata Challenge to secure a maiden Challenge Tour title at Royal Calcutta Golf Club.
The Dane, who led by four shots going into the final round, held off the challenge of home favourite Rahil Gangjee to win by two strokes after signing for a one under par final round of 71 to go with rounds of 68-65-68 and a 16 under par total.
The 24-year-old secures a maiden Challenge Tour title and a first as a professional, finishing two shots clear of Gangjee and Englishman David Horsey who shared second on 14 under par.
Neergaard-Petersen was delighted to pick up a first win having turned professional less than 12 months ago.
“It feels incredible,” he said. “I’ve been professional for nine months, so to get a win, especially so early in the season, is huge.
“It was a big test out there today. Rahil played great. He kept bouncing back and he gave me a tough run in. I don’t think it’s quite sunk in yet, but for now, I’m just really happy.”
Neergaard-Petersen started the day four strokes clear and had extended that to five strokes by the eighth hole. However, after back-to-back gains by playing partner Gangjee at the ninth and tenth holes, and when Neergaard-Petersen double-bogeyed the 12th, the Dane’s lead had been cut to one.
Neergaard-Petersen responded with birdies at the 13th and 14th to move clear once again, and despite a late birdie from Gangjee, he would hold on for a memorable victory.
“Going into the final round with a four shot lead, I knew it was going to be difficult at some point, and it came at the 12th hole,” he added. “At that point I really had to tell myself to make good decisions.
“I told myself that I’d been playing well the last couple of holes and over the last few days, and just to trust my game. From there I bounced back after the double bogey with two straight birdies. I’m delighted.”
Frenchman Alexander Levy finished in fourth place on 11 under par, with Sweden’s Mikael Lindberg and Kristoffer Broberg, and India’s Veer Ahlawat sharing fifth place on 10 under par.
Angad Cheema and Om Prakash Chouhan from India, and Dutchman Wil Besseling finished one shot further back in eighth.
A third place finish this week sees Lindberg move to the top of the Road to Mallorca Rankings with Neergaard-Petersen climbing 29 places into second. Welshman Rhys Enoch is third, last week’s Delhi Challenge winner John Parry drops to fourth, and Frenchman David Ravetto completes the top five.
Meanwhile, Gary Hurley finished with a flourish thanks to a stunning final round of 66 as he moved up a whopping 44 places and into a share of 16th place.
The West Waterford man carded six birdies in a blemish free round for a six-under total and he will head into the three week break with a pep in his step after a disappointing 76 on Saturday.
Conor Purcell carded a round of 73 to end the week in 48th place on level-par.
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