By IANS,
Chennai : Mukesh Kumar bagged his fourth title of the 2007-08 PGTI season when he returned a score of five-under 65 in the final round of the Tamil Nadu Open Golf Championship at the Madras Gymkhana Club’s course here Saturday.
The Mhow-based professional recorded a comprehensive 11-stroke win as he finished with a tournament total of 21-under 259, a course record for four rounds at the Madras Gymkhana Club. Mukesh broke the previous course record of 18-under that was held by Digvijay Singh.
Sanjay Kumar of Lucknow fired three-under 67 on the final day to finish as the runner-up with a total of 10 under 270.
Mukesh’s phenomenal victory in Chennai has propelled him to second place on the 2007-08 PGTI Order of Merit. The 43-year-old was third on the PGTI Order of Merit prior to the Tamil Nadu Open Golf Championship.
Mukesh capped this week with excellent scores of 67, 63, 64 and 65 to win his third title here. In the fourth round, he did not sit back on his overnight eight-stroke lead but instead strove towards increasing the margin as he made six birdies and a lone bogey.
He picked up his first birdie of the day on the par-five third hole, where he actually missed an eight feet putt for eagle. He then sank a 20 feet putt to make birdie on the fifth. Four more birdies followed on the 10th, 12th, 15th and 16th. On the 12th, Mukesh missed a three feet putt for eagle. The veteran closed at five-under after dropping a bogey on the 17th.
“I played a very steady game today and as a result a number of birdies came my way. My putting worked for me once again. It was one of those days when I knew that no one really stands a chance to catch up with me. Therefore, I did not feel any kind of pressure and just went out there and played a normal round by my standards,” said Mukesh.
“It feels great to have already won four titles this season. The 2007-08 season is turning out to be one of my best ever,” he added.
Sanjay Kumar knocked down birdies on the fifth, seventh, eighth, 12th, 13th and dropped bogeys on the fourth and 10th.
“I’m very pleased with my effort since this is my best finish on the PGTI so far. It was a mixed day for me as I made some very long putts but missed short ones,” said Sanjay.
Vikrant Chopra (66, 73, 67, 65), Vijay Kumar (69, 67, 67, 68), C. Muniyappa (70, 65, 67, 69) and Shankar Das (67, 69, 66, 69) were all tied third with a total of nine-under 271.
Ashok Kumar (71, 67, 68, 67) totalled seven-under 273 and climbed from overnight tied ninth to seventh place.
Rahul Ganapathy (72, 68, 69, 69) was tied 16th at two-under 278 while Chennai’s Sandeep Syal (68, 71, 69, 71) ended the tournament with a total of one-under 279 to be tied 19th.
The amateur title was won by Chennai’s Tarun Veeraraghavan (72, 75, 71, 76) who finished tied 49th at 14-over 294.
Leaderboard:
259 – Mukesh Kumar (Mhow) 67, 63, 64, 65; 270 – Sanjay Kumar (Lucknow) 70, 68, 65, 67; 271- Shankar Das (Kolkata) 67, 69, 66, 69; C Muniyappa (Bangalore) 70, 65, 67, 69; Vijay Kumar (Lucknow) 69, 67, 67, 68; Vikrant Chopra (Delhi) 66, 73, 67, 65.
Best Amateur Score: 294 – Tarun Veeraraghavan (Chennai) 72, 75, 71, 76.