Rookie Ashok Kumar, displayed a maturity beyond his age, to pocket his first professional title on the Hero Honda Golf Tour, in the process upstaging seasoned campaigners like Vijay Kumar and Uttam Singh Mundy at the Noida Open 2002, played at the par-72 Noida Golf Course, on Saturday.
The 21-year-old Ashok returned a tournament tally of 10-under 278 and pocketed Rs 1,29,600 for his effort.
The tournament was the 15th leg of the 2002-03 Hero Honda Golf Tour.
Meanwhile, Delhi's Ajay Gupta turned part of the limelight onto himself with a superb six-iron shot that saw his ball land directly in the pin on the par-3 tenth hole.
Stalwart Vijay Kumar had to settle for the runner-up spot and Rs 89,600 at eight-under 280, while Uttam Singh Mundy, the second round leader, finished in third place at six-under 282.
"I am thrilled. I dedicate this victory to Mr. Amit Luthra, who first detected the golfer in me as well, as to DLF Golf & Country Club and Adidas India, who are both my sponsors," said the elated winner.
"I played to my game plan and won," added Ashok, who twice this season missed out on winning, with second place finishes at the Hyundai-MGC Open, in Chennai, and the TATA Steel Open, in Jamshedpur.
"On both occasions, I got really aggressive on the final day and paid the prize. Today, my plan was to aim for par on every hole."
Ashok shot a two-under 70 today. He started the day with a one-stroke lead over Vijay Kumar. Vijay went on to birdie the second to tie scores and applied pressure on the youngster with a birdie on the sixth to go one ahead.
"I was not too worried as I knew if I held my game together, Vijay would soon make an error," said Ashok.
True enough, with Ashok birdying the eight, Vijay slipped up with a dropped shot on the ninth to hand a one-stroke initiative back to the Delhi Golf Club pro.
On the back-nine, the stocky Lucknow veteran birdied the opening hole and the score-line read 'all square'. Status quo till the 12th and Ashok birdied the 13th to go one ahead yet again. With the two golfers birdying the 14th and then paring the 15th, things looked to be going down to the wire and the large crowd gathered was eagerly awaiting a nail-biting finish.
This was not to be as Vijay Kumar dropped back-to-back shots on the 16th and 17th. Form three strokes behind it would always have been difficult to catch up with the leader and despite a final hole bogey, Ashok romped home to a two-stroke win. Vijay Kumar carded a final round one-under 71.
"Ashok played really well," said Vijay of his young opponent. "This boy has a very strong mind and he will go far. He has to keep his head on his shoulders and keep working hard and the rest will take care of itself," added Vijay.
"On my part, I tried my best but the bogeys on the 16th and 17th did me in. They were both the result of wayward shots. Overall, I played all right golf but Ashok was the deserving winner," added India's latest entrant on the Asian PGA Tour.
Jasjeet wins amateur title: GAIL employee Jasjeet Singh shot a final round 77 to pocket the amateur title with a tournament tally of 304. Gagan Verma finished second at 305.
Scores (after 72 holes): 278 _ Ashok Kumar (69,70,69,70); 280 _ Vijay Kumar (74,68,67,71); 282_ Uttam Mundy (72,66,72,72); 284_Shamim Khan(69,72,72,71); 289_Feroz Ali(76,70,72,71), S Murthy(75,71,70,73), Sheeraz Kalra(73,75,67,74), Vivek Bhandari(69,73,71,76); 290_Ajay Gupta(72,72,75,71), Pappan(71,72,75,72), SSP Chowrasia(72,72,71,75); 291_Sanjay Kumar(70,72,75,74), Zai Kipgen(71,74,71,75), Mukesh Kumar(73,69,71,78).
Amateurs: 304_ Jasjeet Singh (78,74,75,77); 305_ Gagan Verma (75,78,75,77); 309_ Simarjeet Singh (75,75,82,77).