Perfectionist Mukesh takes away title

Mukesh Kumar fired a steady one over 73 to take top honours on the final day of the PGTI Players Championship presented by Chandigarh Golf Club as none of the other major contenders were able to launch a serious challenge for the title in round four.

The professional from Mhow finished the week with a tournament total of eight under 280. Gaurav Pratap Singh of Noida shot a 72 to finish joint second along with Chandigarh’s Harendra Gupta at seven under 281. Gupta returned a 73 on Friday. Play was suspended for one hour and fifteen minutes in the morning due to the heavy downpour. Mukesh Kumar’s (70-67-70-73) win on Friday earned him the winner’s cheque worth Rs. 404,125. He thus climbed from second spot to first position in the Rolex Rankings (Order of Merit). Shamim Khan is now placed second in the Rolex Rankings. This was also the 45-year-old’s third win of the 2010 season and his 11th hole on the Aircel PGTI. Mukesh,the overnight joint leader,started with a bogey on the first but pulled it back with an excellent five-iron tee shot on the third that landed a few inches from the pin and led to a birdie. He seemed to be sailing to an easy win after he made birdie-birdie-bogey on the seventh,eighth and ninth. It was at this stage that the other contenders Vinod Kumar and Harendra Gupta had slipped down the leaderboard after dropping a few strokes. Gaurav Pratap Singh,on the other hand,was still three strokes behind the leader. Gaurav’s birdie on the 13th hole was followed by Mukesh’s birdie on the 15th hole which kept the leader three strokes ahead and almost sealed the title for him. However,Mukesh made bogeys on the last three holes due to some poor putting to finally win by a solitary stroke. Fortunately for him,Gaurav also bogeyed the 17th hole and was therefore not in a position to force a playoff. “I started poorly with a bogey on the opening hole and then played it safe to maintain my lead. The three birdies on the front nine were crucial as Vinod,Harendra and Gaurav were struggling to raise their game at that stage and did not look as if they would catch up with m,” said Mukesh. “I hit an amazing five-iron second shot on the 15th that landed two feet from the hole and set up an easy birdie that almost sealed it for me. But some ordinary putting on the last stretch led to three consecutive bogeys from the 16th through the 18th. Nevertheless,the others also fared poorly with the putter and therefore I managed to close it out at the end.” added Mukesh. Gaurav Pratap Singh (68-71-70-72) made two birdies against two bogeys in his final round to post a well-deserved tied second finish along with Harendra Gupta (69-69-70-73). Gupta made two birdies and three bogeys on Friday. Harmeet Kahlon of Chandigarh was placed tied seventh with an overall score of two under 286.