Chawrasia still in order of Merit race

New Delhi: Indian Open champion Shiv Shankar Prasad Chawrasia stayed in the hunt for the Asian Tour’s Order of Merit despite squandering a victory opportunity at the weekend’s UBS Hong Kong Open, keeping up the heat on leader Gavin Green of Malaysia.

Chawrasia led the event for the first three days before carding to a two-over-par 72 on Sunday to miss out on his second victory of 2017. A win in Hong Kong would have taken Chawrasia to the top of the Asian Order of Merit list.

The Kolkata golfer was disappointed with the result but found solace from the fact that he had edged closer to race leader Green, whom he trails by $142,558 with four Asian Tour events left to play this season.

“I missed a couple of putts in the final round but that’s all right. It’s part of the game. I’ll be playing in the next few events and there’s still a good chance for me to take over the leader on the Order of Merit. It’s not over yet at least for the Order of Merit title,” said Chawrasia.

Green finished in a share of 62nd place in Hong Kong with Scott Hend of Australia, who is still in the running to become the first player to win back-to-back Order of Merit crowns.

Hend is third on the Merit ranking with earnings of $439,229 while David Lipsky of the United States stayed in second place on $461,179.

Green, Hend and Chawrasia will head to the €1million (approximately $1.07 million) AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open, which gets underway on Thursday, where they will continue their battle for the Order of Merit crown.