By IANS
Kolkata : Abhishek Jha submitted a level par card of 72 for a tournament total of four-over 292 to win the LG RCGC Cup, the 10th leg of the LG Indian Amateur Golf Tour 2007-08 season, here Friday.
The lanky Jha, who was two under until the final hole, made a double bogey on the 18th yet finished three strokes ahead of the field at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club.
“I did not expect to win. I thought I should try and break par and that is what I achieved. I am thrilled to win my second title of the season,” said Jha after his victory.
The in-form player and the overnight leader Manav Das failed to continue his fine performance on the final day and submitted a card of 6-over 78 to finish third with a total of seven-over 295.
Gagan Verma secured the runner-up spot with a 295 on a count back while H.S. Kang, Saurabh Bahuguna and Mohammed Dulal Hussain ended up tied for the fourth place at 297. Tarun Gogale was sole seventh at 299.
Jha, who had scripted a similar victory in the LG Northern India in Gurgaon after trailing by five shots, began in the right earnest, making a birdie on the par-3 second hole.
A bogey and a birdie followed on the fifth and sixth holes as he took the turn at 1-under.
Beginning his return journey with a bogey, he resurrected it with a birdie on the very next hole. With a birdie on the par-3 13th, the Bangalore lad was cruising along at 2-under until the 17th before making a double on the finishing hole.
Jha’s mistake on the 18th did not have any impact on net result. By then the leaders had withered away.
Verma after making a double on the third and a bogey on the fourth, never really recovered. Another bogey on the 12th put him at 4-over for the day.
Then came the best patch of his round when he made back-to-back birdies on the 15th and 16th. But Verma lost a stroke on the finishing hole to fall behind by three strokes.
Overnight leader Das began on an ominous note making a bogey but nullified it with a birdie on the third.
With a hat trick of bogeys on the 5th, 6th and 7th he was three-over par after his front nine.
Continuing in the same vein, the lad from Ambala, who has three wins under his belt in the current season, made an attempt to recover with a birdie on the 10th. But consecutive bogeys on the 11th and 12th and 17th and 18th blew away his chances of a victory.
Top scores (after 72 holes): 292 Abhishek Jha (73, 73, 74, 72); 295 Gagan Verma (73, 75, 72, 75), Manav Das (74, 70, 73,78); 297 H.S. Kang (78, 74, 72, 73), Saurabh Bhauguna (72, 74, 76, 75), Mohammed Dulal Hussain (75, 72, 73, 77); 299 Tarun Gogale (73, 73, 79, 74); 300 Mithun Perera (72, 77, 74, 77), Jasjeet Singh (72, 72, 73, 78); 301 Sanjiv Mehra (78, 75, 75, 73); 302 Karun Vasudev (78, 73, 76, 75); 303 Simarjeet Singh (73, 80, 78, 72), Arshdeep Tiwana (77, 76, 75, 75)