Aiken holds nerve to lift second Tour title

South Africa’s Thomas Aiken claimed his second European Tour title thanks to some self-professed “phenomenal” golf in the Avantha Masters in India.

Aiken held a three-shot lead going into the final day thanks to a third-round 62 and was never caught, even though playing partner Liang Wenchong carded a hole in one on the seventh.

India’s Gaganjeet Bhullar also threatened to claim a popular home victory at the Jaypee Greens Golf Club he represents, twice getting within two shots of the lead as he recorded a superb closing 64.

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But Aiken held his nerve and finished in style with a birdie on the last, carding a flawless 67 to finish 23-under-par, three ahead of Bhullar with Liang (69) a further two shots back in third.

The 29-year-old from Johannesburg, whose previous win came in the 2011 Spanish Open, collected the first prize of £260,000 and is the sixth South African winner on tour this season.

“They just kept coming at me today,” said Aiken. “I tried my best to get a little bit of a lead but couldn’t get it going, everyone was holing everything; Liang on the front nine and Bhullar made some amazing birdies coming in.

“By no means was it a walk in the park. Finally I can have a bit of a breather.”

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A breather Aiken could certainly have done without came on the 18th tee, where he endured a 12-minute wait due to a prolonged ruling in the group ahead after Australian Scott Hend had driven into the water.

“It’s not the easiest tee-shot in the world but I managed to hit a fairly decent one,” added Aiken.

“I didn’t really want to miss the fairway because I have been getting fliers out of the rough all week and I got another one, but it worked out well.”

England’s David Horsey shot a final round of 67 to finish in a tie for sixth with Hend (70) and Scotland’s David Drysdale (71), while Spain’s Alvaro Quiros (73) was joint 56th on his first start after a four-month injury lay-off following wrist surgery.

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