Haryana Open: Varun edges out Rahil in playoff to take title

Ahmedabad’s Varun Parikh ousted Bengaluru’s Rahil Gangjee in a classic playoff encounter to win the ₹1 crore Haryana Open 2024 played at the Panchkula Golf Club (PGC).
Varun (64-71-67-69) prevailed over Rahil (63-71-67-70) on the fourth playoff hole to bag his second professional title after the two golfers had finished the regulation 72 holes with identical totals of 17-under 271.
Varun won a prize money cheque worth ₹15 lakh and thus, climbed from 48th to 16th position in the PGTI Ranking.
Dhruv Sheoran (67) of Gurugram finished third at 16-under 272, while the trio of Delhi’s Sachin Baisoya (69), Chandigarh’s Akshay Sharma (70) and Veer Ahlawat (70) took tied fourth place at 14-under 274.
Varun, who began the final day in second position, one shot behind the leader, Rahil Gangjee, trailed the latter for most part of the fourth round. Varun made two birdies and two bogeys on the front-nine even as Rahil made a birdie and a bogey.
Varun then recovered well from the rough to make a 20-feet birdie conversion on the 10th. He picked up another stroke on the 11th. Meanwhile, Rahil added three birdies between the 10th and the 13th to stay ahead.
The tide began to turn in Varun’s favour when he sank a crucial 30-footer for birdie on the 17th, while Rahil dropped a bogey on the same hole. The two-shot swing meant both golfers were tied for the lead. Thereafter, Varun made a clutch par putt from 10 feet on the 18th to take the match into a playoff. Eventually, Varun won the playoff to take the win.