John Parry secured a dramatic return to the winner’s circle in the Delhi Challenge, firing a sensational seven under par round of 65 on the final day to triumph at Classic Golf & Country Club.
The Englishman, who becomes a two-time winner on the Challenge Tour, carded rounds of 66-69-68-65 on his way to a 20 under par total to win by one stroke ahead of countrymen Jack Senior and Chris Paisley, and the UAE’s Joshua Grenville-Wood.
The 37-year-old last tasted victory when he triumphed at the Vivendi Cup 2010 on the DP World Tour and was delighted to top the leaderboard again after 14 years.
“It’s fantastic,” he said. “It’s been a long time since I’ve won a Challenge Tour or DP World Tour event, so I’m really happy
“I’ve had some real ups and downs. It is tough. When you’re on your low points, it’s really hard, but I just love playing golf
“Knowing that I can still do it is really pleasing. I’ve put all the hard work in but it’s about coming out here and getting it done.
“I knew my game was there, it was just putting everything together and holing putts at the right time.”
Parry started the day three strokes off the lead, and after birdieing the opening hole, made two more gains at hole eight and nine to move into contention at the turn.
The Englishman, who at one point shared the lead with five others at the top of a congested leaderboard, would then birdie four in a row from the 13th hole before parring the 17th and 18th to set the clubhouse target which couldn’t be matched.
Parry climbs to the top of the season-long Road to Mallorca Rankings with victory, and he admits that winning at this stage of the year sets him up well as he targets a return to the DP World Tour.
“It takes a little bit of pressure off winning early in the season,” he added. “It feels like it puts me in good stead so early on in the season.
“The most pleasing thing is that the practice I’ve put in over winter, which I felt like was working, has actually worked. I’m feeling in a comfortable position for the rest of the year.”
Frenchmen Martin Couvra and Oihan Guillamoundeguy shared fifth place on 18 under par, with countryman Alexander Levy and Welshman Oliver Farr one shot further back in seventh.
Parry overtakes Swede Mikael Lindberg at the top of the Rankings, with Welshman Rhys Enoch dropping one place to third. Couvra moves up three places to seventh, with Paisley’s second place finish in Delhi seeing him climb ten places to eighth.
Conor Purcell shot a level par 72 to finish tied 17th in 13-under with Gary Hurley a shot further back in joint 22nd after a closing 70.
The Road to Mallorca remains in India for the Kolkata Challenge, taking place from March 21-24 at Royal Calcutta Golf Club.
Scores after round four:
268 J PARRY (ENG) 66 69 68 65,
269 C PAISLEY (ENG) 68 67 68 66, J SENIOR (ENG) 66 69 65 69, J GRENVILLE-WOOD (UAE) 66 70 64 69,
270 O GUILLAMOUNDEGUY (FRA) 67 68 67 68, M COUVRA (FRA) 65 67 68 70,
271 O FARR (WAL) 68 68 66 69, A LEVY (FRA) 69 67 65 70,
272 D YOUNG (SCO) 67 71 68 66, T PULKKANEN (FIN) 67 72 62 71,
273 J ZUSKA (CZE) 67 69 66 71,
274 H BAISOYA (IND) 71 68 68 67, R KARLBERG (SWE) 66 71 68 69, E WALKER (SCO) 69 65 70 70, A ETCHENIQUE (FRA) 66 68 70 70, A ZEMMER (ITA) 68 68 68 70,
275 N KRISTENSEN (DEN) 69 69 71 66, H HOPEWELL (AUS) 69 70 68 68, A HALVORSEN (NOR) 69 69 68 69, C HOWIE (SCO) 67 73 66 69, C PURCELL (IRL) 68 67 68 72,
276 M GIBOUDOT (FRA) 69 71 70 66, A PLANT (ENG) 70 66 73 67, R GANGJEE (IND) 72 67 70 67, U MANE (IND) 71 68 69 68, G HURLEY (IRL) 70 68 68 70, Y CHANDRA MS (IND) 71 69 66 70, T THURLOWAY (ENG) 70 67 68 71, A SHARMA (IND) 68 69 68 71,
277 J LAGERGREN (SWE) 74 66 70 67, S HUTSBY (ENG) 70 68 71 68, M HAMMER (GER) 68 72 69 68, S BROWN (ENG) 65 71 71 70, M OSHRINE (USA) 69 67 71 70, V PASTOR (ESP) 67 70 68 72,
278 A CHEEMA (IND) 71 66 70 71, B SCHMIDT (ENG) 70 69 68 71, S KHAN (IND) 69 70 68 71, O LINDELL (FIN) 67 68 71 72, J MOSCATEL (ESP) 67 69 70 72, L VACARISAS (ESP) 69 69 68 72,
279 C KNIPES (ENG) 67 72 71 69, P PINEAU (FRA) 66 71 72 70,
280 R SCIOT-SIEGRIST (FRA) 73 66 72 69, S BAISOYA (IND) 69 71 69 71, J SAINZ (ESP) 69 71 69 71,
281 D FOOS (GER) 70 70 73 68, A BEDI (IND) 70 69 73 69,
282 L BJERREGAARD (DEN) 71 67 74 70, L KEUNEN (NED) 74 65 72 71, K VAN DER WEELE (NED) 69 68 73 72, J ALLAN (ENG) 66 67 71 78,
283 S SINGH SISODIA (IND) 72 67 75 69, M AZHAR (IND) 72 66 73 72, P BOVARI (ITA) 68 72 70 73,
284 J SALE (FRA) 70 69 76 69, J GOUGH (ENG) 68 72 71 73,
287 R DHOLE PATIL (IND) 71 69 71 76,
291 H GANGWAR (IND) 72 68 73 78, S DWIVEDI (IND) 71 69 72 79