Perseverence pays and Shiv Shankar Prasad Chawrasia reaped its benefits by grinding out his second win on the trot in the Hero Indian Open. This was his fourth triumph on the European Tour and sixth Asian Tour crown.

With the win he matched former Asia No. 1 Jeev Milkha Singh’s record of four European Tour victories and became only the second Indian in the process to have defended the Indian Open title after Jyoti Randhawa (2006 - 07) and third golfer behind Japan’s Kenji Hosoishi ( 1967-68).

England pro Eddie Pepperell had labelled the demanding Gary Player layout as ‘Disneyland’ due to its rapid change of elevation and rollercoaster nature. However, one of the shortest hitters on the European Tour (average drive 266 yards) knew playing ‘conservative’ was the best way to tackle the conditions.

While the other top ranked pros were dropping double bogeys or worse, the Kolkatan had only six bogeys in the four rounds he played at the DLF Golf & Country Club.

The manner in which Chawrasia meticulously constructed his win is a showcase of his mental fortitude. He went about taming the challenging course armed with a hot putter, wedges and precision play – always aiming for the fairways. He used the driver only on four holes 2nd, 4th, 6th and 15th. His target for the entire week was not to be adventurous. Just like the Delhi GC, the scene of his 2016 victory, the DLF Black Knight course could be equally penalising for even the slightest error.