India's SSP Chowrasia took his second European Tour title yesterday when England's Robert Coles bogeyed his closing hole at the Avantha Masters in New Delhi.
The two players appeared headed for a play-off before Coles faltered.
Chowrasia, who also won the tournament in 2008, shot a five-under-par 67 in the final round to finish with a winning total of 15-under par. Coles took second, one stroke back, with a final round of 70 at the DLF Golf and Country Club.
"I think the main lesson to take from this is that you have to adapt to those situations under that kind of pressure with the adrenalin flowing," said Coles, who was trying for his first European Tour victory.
Gregory Havret of France took third place at 13 under, with Robert-Jan Derksen of Holland in fourth and Sujjan Singh, the Indian Asian Tour rookie, tied for fifth alongside Spain's Pablo Larrazabal.
Chowrasia looked to be cruising with a flurry of birdies on four, seven, eight, 10, 11 and 14, but a double bogey at the 16th opened the door for Coles to challenge for the lead.
"After making those four birdies on the front nine, I felt like I was on a roll. I thought that I could win the title already," Chowrasia said.
After he recorded pars at his final two holes, he had to endure an agonising hour-long wait before being declared the champion as Coles still had four holes to play.
"It is obviously disappointing but I don't feel too bad right now," Coles said. "I will probably feel a lot worse tomorrow when it sinks in. I did have a great chance to win."
In the LPGA Thailand tournament in Pattaya, top-ranked Yani Tseng earned her third win in three weeks, shooting a six-under 66 to pull away for a comfortable five-shot victory over Michelle Wie.
Tseng led by one stroke over Wie and In-Kyung Kim going into the final round and had the lowest score of the day with seven birdies and one bogey, for a 15-under total of 273.
Wie shot 70 in the final round to finish second, while Kim was another shot back in third.
Tseng took over the No 1 ranking after winning the Australian Open and then the Australian Ladies Masters title last weekend.
* Agencies