India\u2019s Karandeep Kochhar won his maiden title on the Asian Development Tour and virtually assured his return to the Asian Tour after an assured three-shot win in the US$125,000 Egypt Golf Series \u2013 Red Sea Open.<\/p>\n
Get the FREE November 2025 edition of Golf Digest Middle East here in both English and Arabic!<\/a><\/p>\n At Sokhna Golf Club on Friday, Kochhar closed with a two-under par 70, which took him to 19-under par for the tournament, and three clear of England\u2019s Matt Killen (67).<\/p>\n The win, and the cheque of US$21,875 takes Kochhar to No4 on the ADT Order of Merit, while Killen closed the gap on top with leader Tawit Polthai of Thailand. With just one tournament remaining on the schedule, Killen is approximately US$12,100 behind and would need a big finish at the Aramco Invitational Tournament, scheduled for November 26-29.<\/p>\n Thailand\u2019s Weerawish Narkprachar (71) was solo third at 15-under, while Scotland\u2019s Eric McIntosh (65) made a big jump to fourth place at -14 with the lowest round of the day.<\/p>\n Darcy Brereton (69), Carl Jano Corpus (69), Italy\u2019s Andrea Saracino (70) and Sweden\u2019s Calle Strandberg (72) were tied for fifth place at -12. Korea\u2019s Minhyeok Yang (72) and Laos\u2019 Thammasack Bouahom (76) rounded up the top-10 with tied ninth place.<\/p>\n Kochhar started the final round with a two-shot lead, but that vanished in the first three holes when he made two bogeys and Weerawish caught up with him with a birdie on the third. The Thai was in the mix until late in the back nine, where he bogied the 15th and 16th holes.<\/p>\n The 26-year-old Kochhar, who last won on the domestic PGTI Tour three years and eight months ago, steadied the ship with birdies on the fifth, seventh and eighth holes, and never looked back despite a determined charge from Killen.<\/p>\n \u201cFeels great. Obviously, it has not sunken in yet, as it is almost four years since my last win. But this feels so good because I came here with just one goal, and that was to secure my Asian Tour card. I sacrificed a lot for that, and I think I have pretty much achieved my goal,\u201d said Kochhar.<\/p>\n \u201cBogey-par-bogey was a tough start. I wasn\u2019t really feeling the game was a little nervous to start with, but I think I pulled myself back well after that. The good thing was that I was not panicking after that start. I knew that I was playing well, and it was just a matter of being in the moment and being patient.<\/p>\n \u201cI thought the birdie on the eighth hole was the one that turned everything around. I hit two good shots to the par-5 hole, and was just short of the green, from where I made a poor chip. But I made a very good 10-footer there, and that kind of told me it could be my day.\u201d<\/p>\n Killen got to five-under par through 14 holes, but could not put the pressure on Kochhar over the closing holes.<\/p>\n \u201cI am a little disappointed I didn\u2019t make a couple more today. I\u2019ve hit the ball pretty well all week, to be honest. I just did not hold as many putts as I would like,\u201d said the Englishman, winner of the Ciputra Golfpreneur Tournament on ADT in August.<\/p>\n \u201cObviously, it\u2019s all coming down to the last event anyway, but the main goal was to just get as close to Tawit as I could. Kind of claw back as much as I could. I\u2019ve got to play good at Aramco regardless. I have done well there in the past with a couple of top-10s.<\/p>\n \u201cThis whole year on the ADT was a good learning experience. I\u2019m very happy my game is in a better place now when I go back to the Asian Tour. So, I\u2019m looking forward to playing there next year.\u201d<\/p>\n McIntosh started the day at seven-under and 10 behind the leader. A win would have been difficult from there, but he did a great job at climbing up the leaderboard and clinching his best finish of the season on the ADT.<\/p>\n \u201cI got a pretty steady start the first two holes, and then holed a good putt on the third from about six feet for birdie, and then went on a wee run from there,\u201d said the 26-year-old from Edinburgh, who graduated from Chicago\u2019s Northwestern University.<\/p>\n \u201cHad a bad bogey on 16, and then a good birdie at the last. It\u2019s always nice to birdie the last, especially after I three-putted there yesterday from not very far. So a bit of redemption there.<\/p>\n \u201cMy big goal this week was just to be double digits under par and then see where that puts me. I did that, which was pleasing. Now, I have a great opportunity at the Aramco. The top two people pretty much secure the cards, so, this helps me go up the Order of Merit. The ADT has been very good, but to be able to have a chance to play the Asian Tour, that\u2019s a great opportunity.<\/p>\n The Egypt Golf Series \u2013 Red Sea Open was the second successive week the Asian Development Tour was in the country, following the Egyptian Open. The final tournament of the 2025 schedule is the Aramco Invitational Tournament<\/a> from November 26-29.<\/p>\n Follow Golf Digest Middle East on social media<\/p>\n Instagram<\/a><\/p>\n X<\/a><\/p>\n Facebook<\/a><\/p>\n YouTube<\/a><\/p>\n Main Image: Asian Development Tour<\/p>\n