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Joshua Berry caps dream week at Kolkata Challenge 2025 with playoff victory

Kolkata, Mar 16,(UNI) Nineteen-year-old Joshua Berry from the UK capped a dream week with a playoff victory at the US$300,000 Kolkata Challenge 2025 played at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club (RCGC) here on Sunday.
Joshua Berry (72-62-70-73), who set the course record of 10-under 62 earlier in round two, returned an ordinary one-over 73 in regulation play on the last day to total 11-under 277 along with three other players, Norway’s Andreas Halvorsen (69-66-71-71), Austria’s Lukas Nemecz (67-70-68-72) and India’s Om Prakash Chouhan (66-68-73-70).
The four players headed into a playoff where Joshua finally triumphed with a dramatic 19-foot birdie conversion on the second extra hole.
The trio of Halvorsen, Nemecz, and Chouhan thus finished joint runners-up. While Chouhan, who struggled with his short putts all day, bowed out after missing a three-footer for par on the first playoff hole, Halvorsen and Nemecz lost out to Berry on the second playoff hole.
Om Prakash Chouhan’s tied second finish earned him a cheque worth Rs 20,64,000 that pushed him up 41 places to third position in the PGTI Order of Merit 2025.
Teenager Joshua Berry, the overnight leader by one shot, had a slow start to the day as he conceded two bogeys on the front nine. Joshua then made a crucial tap-in birdie on the 15th to climb into contention. Berry made par on the first playoff hole along with Halvorsen and Nemecz. The Englishman then nailed his 19-feet birdie conversion on the second playoff hole to emerge champion.
Joshua, who won his maiden HotelPlanner Tour title, said, “I didn’t have the best of rounds today but I guess I earned the reward for staying patient till the end and keeping my emotions together. All parts of my game fired this week and I was particularly sharp with the mental aspect of my game.
“I’m absolutely buzzing. This win is important and it’s good for my confidence as well. I know I can do it now, which I think is the key thing.
“I did feel some nerves but that’s what you practice for. I’m looking forward to watching that putt in the play-off back.
“You’ve always got to be confident going into a play-off but obviously it’s nerve-racking. You really want to win, and I just tried to hit one good shot at a time. Luckily, I holed that putt on the second extra hole. It’s a game of such fine margins.”
Thirty-eight-year-old Om Prakash Chouhan, who was tied for fifth and three off the lead after round three, couldn’t get his putting rhythm going on Sunday as he missed short putts to drop two bogeys on the front nine in exchange for just one birdie.
Om Prakash, a former winner of the Hotel Planner Tour and at the RCGC in 2023, had a far better back-nine where he scored three birdies including a tap-in on the 11th and a 10-feet conversion on the 13th to move into contention.
Chouhan, who was the sole leader for a few holes on the back nine, then missed a golden opportunity for victory on the 18th where his 15-feet putt for birdie lipped out.
On the first playoff hole, Chouhan missed out on another short putt conversion from three feet that cost him a bogey and put him out of contention.
SSP Chawrasia and Samarth Dwivedi shot scores of 67 to make major gains on the final day. While SSP jumped 18 spots to secure sixth place at nine-under 279, Samarth moved up 22 spots to end the week in tied seventh position at eight-under 280.
UNI PC BD
Tags: #Joshua Berry caps dream week at Kolkata Challenge 2025 with playoff victory
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