Chiangmai: Rising Indian golfer Rashid Khan lifted his second title of the year, carding a brilliant four-under 68 in the final round to clinch the Chiangmai Golf Classic at the Alpine Golf Resort today.
Rashid, who lifted the SAIL-SBI Open earlier this year for his maiden Asian Tour win, had rounds of 68, 69, 66 and 68 to total 17-under 271 and finish one shot ahead of veteran Jyoti Randhawa (68-65-70-69) and Thailand's Thanyakon Khrongpha (69-65-67-71), who were both at 16-under 272.
It was the second successive week an Indian won on the Asian Tour, following Chowrasia's win last week in Delhi at the Panasonic Open India.
It was the fifth win for Indian golfers on the Asian Tour this season, following two wins by Anirban Lahiri (CIMB Niaga Indonesian Masters and Venetian Macau Open), Rashid Khan (SAIL-SBI Open) and SSP Chowrasia (Panasonic Open India 2014).
This is the most by any country this season on Asian Tour in 2014.
Rashid Khan's winning cheque of USD 135,000 will also catapult him into the top-10 of the Asian Tour Order of Merit rankings and also get him into the top-200 of world rankings, making him the second highest ranked Indian golfer after Anirban Lahiri.
In 2014, in 12 starts, Rashid has won twice and finished in top-10 on three other occasions. For Jyoti Randhawa, an eight-time winner on Asian Tour, this was his best finish since he tied second at the CJ Invitational in Korea in 2013.
This year his sole top-10 before Chiangmai effort was tied eighth at SAIL-SBI Open, which was won by Rashid Khan.
