Masahiro Kawamura continued his excellent start to life on the European Tour as he pushed Stephen Gallacher all the way on the final day of the Hero Indian Open.
The Japanese came through the Qualifying School to earn a rookie season on the Race to Dubai and quickly made an impact, finishing in the top five at the Afrasia Bank Mauritius Open at Anahita in just his second event of the season.
He has made the top 20 three further times and enjoyed his best result yet in being second at DLF Golf and Country Club, with just a wayward tee shot on the last robbing him of the chance to go for victory.
The 25-year-old has a win on the Japan Golf Tour - where he finished second three times last season - and all the signs are a European Tour victory may not be too far away.
"Last year I finished second three times on the Japan Tour, lost by one shot twice and once in a play-off," he said. "Now I finished second by one shot this time again.
"The round was very good especially in such tough conditions. I wasn’t playing very well in the front nine and was struggling on a lot of the holes and I had some missed shots but the back nine I played very well. The course was tough today but I managed to come back.
"My tee shot (on the 18th) was very good but the wind was strong and it just pushed it left.
"Coming into the last two holes and seeing my name on the leaderboad, I was really nervous. I knew how important the final hole was and I hit a good shot but was just unlucky."
