Vikarabad: Rashid Khan won the INR 1 crore Telangana Open 2026 by three strokes at Vooty Golf County on Friday, closing with a five-under 67 to end a title drought that had lasted seven years.
The 35-year-old from Delhi put together rounds of 66, 67, 65 and 67 to finish at 23-under 265. It is his 15th professional title and his 11th win on the DP World PGTI. He took home INR 15 lakh and climbed to sixth on the 2026 Order of Merit, with season earnings of INR 44,95,509.
His last win on the tour came at the PGTI Players Championship presented by Chandigarh Golf Club in May 2019. Rashid, a two-time Asian Tour winner and three-time PGTI Order of Merit champion, said the years in between had been hard going.
“I can’t describe how I’m feeling right now,” he said. “It has been seven years since my last win, and I struggled a lot with my game during that period. I went through many ups and downs, but I also learned a great deal. Once you come through a phase like that, you understand what you need to do.”
Two bogeys, then three birdies in a row
Rashid began the final round two shots behind overnight leader Angad Cheema and dropped shots on each of the first two holes. He then birdied the third, fourth and fifth, and added another on the eighth.
“I got off to a really poor start,” he said. “I made bogey on the opening par five, and the second was playing extremely tough — about 240 yards with a left-to-right wind.”
“Even after starting bogey-bogey, I knew that if I stuck to my game plan and continued giving myself birdie opportunities, I could recover. The birdies on the third, fourth and fifth were important turning points.”
Cheema, meanwhile, made three bogeys on the front nine, and Rashid turned with a three-shot lead.
“The birdie on the eighth gave me a lead of two or three shots,” Rashid said. “From there, my focus was simply to keep creating birdie chances. There were scoring opportunities on the back nine, and I started that stretch very well.”
The putt on the 15th
Three more birdies followed from the 10th through the 12th. After two pars, Rashid holed the putt he later picked out as the moment the tournament was settled.
“I had a 12- or 13-foot putt for par, while Angad was inside 10 feet for birdie,” he said. “That proved to be the turning point.”
Cheema picked up two birdies after the turn but signed for a one-over 73, four shots adrift. He shared third place at 19-under 269 with Gurugram’s Veer Ahlawat, the 2024 DP World PGTI Rankings champion, who closed with a 65 after three rounds of 68.
The wind got up over the closing holes. Rashid said he enjoyed the final group all the same, alongside Cheema and Jairaj Singh Sandhu.
“I’ve known Angad and Jairaj for a long time, and we had a lot of fun out there,” he said. Of the course, he added: “The 17th was manageable, but the tee shot on the 18th was one of the toughest I have ever faced.”
Baisoya’s 65 the round of the day
Honey Baisoya shot the best final round among the contenders, a seven-under 65 built on nine birdies and two bogeys, to finish second at 20-under 268. The Delhi golfer, who won the DP World Players Championship at Qutab Golf Course in February, earned INR 10 lakh and sits third in the season rankings on INR 51,72,092.
Saptak Talwar, who leads the DP World PGTI Rankings and spent the summer on the HotelPlanner Tour, tied for 24th at seven-under 281. The INR 1,14,450 he picked up stretched his lead at the top, taking his season earnings to INR 87,47,684.
The Race to DP World India Championship decides the tour’s number one player and the top 24 on the Order of Merit, who qualify for the season-ending DP World India Championship.