It was 'lucky 15' for Mukesh Kumar as the golfer, aided by a tournament tally of 15-under 273, posted his first victory in 15 years at the historic Delhi Golf Club.
Mukesh's third straight error-free round of golf, a two-under 70, handed him the title at the Rs five million PSPB OPEN Petroleum Golf Championship 2005, and the winner's cheque of Rs 810,000, the biggest ever in the history of the Amby Valley PGAI Tour.
Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia, known for his near divine short game, was undone by a couple of visits to the much feared Delhi Golf Club bushes while Digvijay Singh posted a valiant fight-back, nearly catching up with Mukesh on one occasion.
However, the duo had to settle for the tied-second position at 12-under 276, to pocket Rs 4,37,500 each.
While the focus was on the leader-group, three other golfers turned a few heads today.
Amateur Gaganjeet Bhullar, only 17 years of age, was involved in a neck-and-neck-race for the second position before double bogeying his final hole to finish at nine-under 279.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka's Anura Rohana equaled the course record with a superb round of nine-under 63, to join Myanmar's Zaw Moe, who reached that mark at the Hero Honda Masters 2003. The other major achievement was that of Chandigarh's Roop Singh's.
Roop fired a hole in one on the par-3 seventh with a well directed 4-iron.
Mukesh had stated on Saturday that he would attack the front-nine and take things as they came therefrom.
Today, he did exactly that which, in all probability, put a bit of pressure on his opponents.
While Mukesh's aggression yielded him only pars for the first seven holes, Chowrasia, who actually caught up with Mukesh with a birdie on the second, fumbled with his tee shot on the fourth to slip two-strokes behind the leader.
On the eighth, Mukesh posted his first birdie, courtesy two 2-irons and an accurate chip to one foot from the pin. Then on the tenth, he birdied his second and final hole of the day with a 3-wood pitching wedge combination and a well-directed five feet putt. Surprisingly, Mukesh was unhappy with his putting today.
"My putting was deplorable but my hitting saved the day for me," said the golfer, who has now taken his earnings for the season to over Rs 220,000.
"It feels great to win at the DGC and also to break my career highest earnings tally of Rs 21,77,402. This is indeed a memorable day.
Chowrasia and Digvijay played really well but I am totally satisfied with the final result," he added.
Digvijay Singh nearly pulled it off today. Three-strokes behind the leader at the start of the day, the lanky pro made his intentions clear with a birdie on his opening hole. Birdies on the eighth and ninth placed him at three-under on the tenth tee box. Another birdie on the 11th, took him to just a stroke behind Mukesh. However, his short game fell apart on the 12th and 13th, resulting in his dropping shots on those holes. A birdie on the 14th later, another bogey on the 17th, where Digvijay chipped the ball too far past the hole forced him to tie with Chowrasia.
"I played with a free mind today," said the 33-year old Meerut golfer. At the start of the day, I figured a 66 would see me through. As was finally proved, that was exactly the score required to beat Mukesh," he added.
Luck plays a vital role in success in any walk of life and golf is no exception. When Chowrasia birdied the second, to pull next to Mukesh, people believed he would charge ahead. However, on the par-4 fourth, the Kolkatan, pulled his 3-iron into the trees, subsequently double bogeying that hole. A birdie on the eighth was a face saver. After making the turn, there was still hope for the 26-year old who looked like staging a recovery with a birdie on the 14th.
"The 15th proved to be my waterloo," said Chowrasia. On that hole, a 6-iron, pitching wedge combination was followed by Chowrasia's three-putting on the green for bogey. Thereafter, try as he might, he could do no better than par.
Gaganjeet wins amateur title: India's top-ranked amateur Gaganjeet Bhullar fired a final round 71 to lift the amateur title at an impressive nine-under 279. Simarjeet Singh finished second at 285.
SCORES (after 54 holes): 273 Mukesh Kumar(71,65,67,70); 276 SSP Chowrasia(69,66,69,72), Digvijay Singh(69,71,66,70); 279 Gaganjet Bhullar(68,70,70,71); 281 Rafick Ali(71,68,70,72); 282 Amandeep Johl(67,72,69,74); 283 Feroz Ali(67,70,74,72), Ashok Kumar(69,70,69,75), Gaurav Ghei(66,73,68,76); 284 Rahil Gangjee(76,72,68,68); 285 Simarjet Singh(69,71,71,74).
