Delhi pro Arjun Singh was confidence personified from the word `go' as he shot a superb eight-under 64 on the final day for a record four-day total of 20-under 268 to win the TNGF-KONE Open 2003, the third leg of the Hero Honda Indian Golf Tour 2003-04 season at the Cosmo-TNGF course on Saturday.
Overnight leader Mukesh Kumar succumbed to pressure, ending the day at two-over 74 to finish third.
Digvijay Singh, who was just a stroke behind Mukesh, rallied to finish second with a total of 273. Harmeet Kahlon who had a bad back nine, finished joint fourth along with Uttam Singh Mundy, who bogeyed the last hole from four feet and Rafiq Ali who shot a 69. The winner went home richer by Rs 1,62,000 while the runner-up pocketed Rs 1,12,000.
Arjun Singh, began the day with three stokes behind the leader. He opened with a birdie for a bright start. Hitting his tee shot straight, instead of going over the trees on the dog-leg par-4 hole, Arjun chipped it to five feet from the pin.
Digvijay, who landed on the green on his tee shot, three-putted for a par. Arjun, who had finished second in the season opener Kashmir Open, was at his best. With five more birdies, including a hat-trick of them starting from fifth, Arjun took the turn at six-under, to lead Mukesh by three strokes after the `Champion golfer of the year' was level par after making a birdie on the first and bogey on the fifth.
With Arjun clearly in lead, he played it safe while making only two birdies on his return journey. The pick of the eight birdies was on the par-4 fifth. His tee shot was a little on the left of the fairway but he managed to chip it to 10 feet while putting for a birdie. A par saved on the par-4 15th was another highlight of the Delhi pro's round. With the pin guarded by a tree and a bunker on the right, Arjun's second shot landed in the bunker. Putting his wedge to good use, Arjun chipped to five feet from the cup from where he made a par.
The 33-year-old pro who is on the 23rd position on the Asian PGA Order of Merit, made it a memorable round as 500 people gathered to watch Arjun miss a small birdie-putt on the 18th but still ending up as the champion.
"I thought I had to shoot a 66 or 67 to get there. My only goal was only to go as low as possible. I was helped by my putting which was exceptionally good today. And after shooting eight-under, I don't have any complaints," said the champion with a smile.
Meanwhile, Digvijay Singh, who was just a shot behind the leader Mukesh, bogeyed the par-3 fourth while made only two birdies on the second and sixth to finish five strokes behind the winner.
"I was not putting well. I did rather say I was lucky to finish with a under-par score," said the pro from Meerut.
Mukesh Kumar was none too happy as he missed some small birdie putts.
"It is sad to lose after leading for three days. But it happens in golf. I could not make any long putts," said Mukesh and admitted that he played under tremendous pressure.
B Gurunath emerged as the champion in the amateur category with a total of 294 after carding a final round 73. L Selvadurai finished second.
Scores (after 72 holes) (Pros): 268_Arjun Singh (69,66,69,64); 273_Digvijay Singh (67,69,66,71); 275_Mukesh Kumar (64,68,69,74); 277_Uttam Singh Mundy (71,65,70,71), Harmeet Kahlon (69,68,70,70), Rafiq Ali (67,71,70,69); 280_ Ashok Kumar (67,71,70,72), Gaurav Ghei (69,72,69,70); 282_Vijay Kumar (68,71,73,70); 283_Binod Pandey (68,75,69,71); 284_Amritinder Singh (73,66,73,72).
Amateurs: 294_B Gurunath (74,72,75,73); 298_L Selvadurai (71,78,73,76).