Honey Baisoya Ends 5-Year Title Drought with Dominant Players Championship Win

Honey Baisoya (63-65-64-65), the overnight leader by five shots, drove home the advantage, making six birdies against a lone bogey in round four to total 23-under 257 for the week and, as a result, end his five-year-long wait for a title.

It was 29-year-old Baisoya's eighth professional win. Baisoya picked up the winning cheque worth INR 22,50,000, to move up from third place to first position in the 2026 DP World PGTI Order of Merit.

Khsitij Naveed Kaul (62-71-65-62), who was overnight tied third and six shots off the lead, shot a 62 for the second time this week, the last day's lowest score, to rise one spot and end the tournament as runner-up at 20-under 260.

Veer Ahlawat (65-67-66-65) took third place at 17-under 263 following his fourth round of 65.

Honey Baisoya, the outright favourite to win the title at the start of the day, made steady progress early in the round with five birdies on the front nine that came at the cost of a solitary bogey. Honey reassessed his strategy on the seventh tee and decided to rely more on the driver as he wanted to play more aggressively. As a result, he picked up birdies on the seventh, eighth, and ninth.

Baisoya then maintained his lead, which was five shots at one stage, on the back nine as he made pars all the way till the 17th. Honey sealed the title with an outstanding bunker shot on the 18 th that landed within two feet of the pin and led to his sixth and final birdie of the day.

Baisoya said, "I'm delighted to be back in the winner's circle after such a long time. I had a great day today on the course. Even though I had a five-shot overnight lead, I knew that I had to play really well in the final round, as Veer and Kshitij, who were chasing me, are capable of shooting very low scores on their day and can never be counted out.

"I had played well last week in Chhattisgarh too, where I finished third. So, I knew that if I could control my nerves, I had a good chance of winning this week. I would like to thank my friends and fellow professionals Chikkarangappa, Kushal Singh, and Arjun Sharma for all their support. Chikkarangappa gave me some valuable putting advice relating to my putting grip that set me on the right path. So, a big thank you to Chikka. I would like to thank my father, Mr. Ravinder, and my uncle, Mr. Gast Ram, for all their support and guidance.

"The strategy today was to play at least three-under on the front-nine, which I felt would give me a good cushion on the back-nine. I did even better with a four-under on the front nine. After that, I just had to save pars on the back-nine. The plan to attack with the driver from the seventh hole onwards paid off as it produced three consecutive birdies and set up the win for me," said Baisoya.

Second-placed Kshitij Naveed Kaul had an incredible error-free final round of 62. Khshitij, who holds the course record of 60, made eight birdies on the day. He ended the week with a flourish, making birdies on the last four holes. Kshitij picked up the runner-up cheque of INR 15 lakh to move up from fourth to third position in the DP World PGTI Order of Merit.

- IANS