Defending champion Bayhaan Lakdawala made sure his incredible start to the final round of the Omega Dubai Creek Men’s Amateur Open ended with him defending his title successfully.
In the first EGF Order of Merit event of 2016 held at Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club, Lakdawala started the day one shot behind leader Craig Vance, but needed just two shots on the opening hole to overtake him.
A holed second shot on the par-4 first gave Lakdawala an eagle two and the lead by one shot after starting the day at two-over par. The Indian had shot two-over 73 on the opening day to be tied second alongside Gary Swan, Mark Williams and Ryan Riley, and one behind Tower Links’ Vance, who shot a 72.
But that was just the start of a ding-dong battle between Lakdawala and Vance, who made the next move and back to back birdies on the second and third saw him regain the lead at -1.
Things changed dramatically on the demanding seventh, eighth and ninth holes, with players dropping shots. At the turn, Lakdawala was at +2, Vance at +4 and Swan, the third player in the lead group, at +5.
A Vance birdie on the par-5 13th moved him to within one shot of Lakdawala, who responded brilliantly by sinking a 30-foot putt for a superb birdie on the 14th.
A bogey for Vance on 16th saw him slip three shots behind Lakdawala on the 18th tee.
Three shots is not the safest of margins considering how tough the closing hole at Creek is, but Lakdawala made it look easy by hitting a sensational second shot from the first cut to four feet from the pin. Vance could only bogey the hole after laying up with his second shot from the bunker, while Lakdawala calmly two-putted for a par and victory by four shots.
After receiving his prize, Lakdawala said: “It is an event that I always look forward to here at the Creek and to win it again is a great feeling. I want to thank Omega for their continued support of this great event.”
One shot behind second-placed Vance (147), was Miki Mirza who birdied his final two holes to finish with a total of 148.