Chonburi, (Thailand) Feb 19 (PTI) India’s Manu Gandas carded his best round of 2023, a 4-under 68, to finish tied 28th at the Thailand Classic on the DP World Tour here on Sunday.
Gandas showed that he is slowly finding his feet on the DP World Tour, as he started with a hat-trick of birdies on first three holes and added a fourth birdie on seventh. A bogey in ninth halted that momentum and he turned in 3-under.
On the back nine, he birdied 11th and 16th but dropped a shot on 13th for a round of 68. That helped him log a finish of tied 28th his best so far in his fledgling DP World Tour career.
Thorbjorn Olesen of Denmark turned in a solid performance of 6-under 66 with three birdies on either side of the Amata Spring Country Club and won the Thailand Classic by four shots for his seventh DP World Tour title.
Gandas was relieved with the result after missing cuts in his first two starts this year in Ras Al Khaimah and Singapore.
Next week he will play at his home course, the DLF Golf and Country Club in the USD 2 million Hero Indian Open, which returns to action after a gap of almost four years with the last edition having been staged in 2019.
India’s other star Shubhankar Sharma had missed the cut.
Yannik Paul recorded his best result of the 2023 Race to Dubai as he finished second on 20 under par, two strokes ahead of fellow German Alexander Knappe and Joost Luiten of the Netherlands. Paul has one win from the DP World Tour to his name.
Nicolai Højgaard finished on 17 under par in a share of fifth with Hero Cup teammate Antoine Rozner of France and 2016 Ryder Cup player Rafa Cabrera Bello.
The top four finishes in Thailand are expected to be back in action in India next week.
Olesen, whose last victory came at the 2022 Betfred British Masters, started the final round with a two-stroke lead, but quickly increased his advantage to four after birdies on his opening two holes.
He carded another birdie at the sixth hole but then had to stay patient as six consecutive pars allowed countryman Højgaard to move to within two strokes as the 21-year-old made three birdies in a row after the turn.
Olesen kept his nerve as he carded a hat-trick of birdies of his own from the 13th hole to move five strokes clear. He parred his remaining three holes to sign for a bogey-free six under par 66 and a 24 under par total.
Source: PTI News
