Arjun Singh ends title drought

During the last four days, the common refrain has been “Arjun is the man best suited for this course.” He did not allow that pressure to get him and shot a three-under par 69 for a four-under total of 284, while Bhandari was second at one-under 287. Arjun took home Rs 2,49,900 while Bhandari took Rs 1,66,650.

When the lead group teed off this morning, it seemed a toss-up between Bhandari and the duo two strokes behind him, Arjun and Feroz Ali. Gaurav Ghei, who was within striking distance, had asore back, something which had forced him to give up in the second round at the Indian Open last year. This time he carried on, but he was surely not going to overstretch and preferred to play safe and steady golf.

Arjun’s last win came in the Mahindras in December 1996 and before that was the Classic Masters in January the same year. All three wins of his have come in majors. Bhandari was second while Ghei caught up with the faltering Feroz to be joint third, while the 1997 Golfer of the Year, Vijay Kumar, with a par round moved into the fifth place. Indrajit Bhalotia was sixth and Basad Ali seventh. Rishi Narain, playing his first tournament in six years, slipped with 77, but ended 21st. Scores (professionals)

284: Arjun Singh (71, 74, 70, 69); 287: Vivek Bhandari (66, 76, 71, 74); 290: Feroz Ali (72, 73, 70, 75) and Gaurav Ghei (70, 75, 72, 73); 292: Vijay Kumar (72, 74, 74, 72); 293: Indrajit Bhalotia (71, 74, 74, 74); 294: Basad Ali (72, 76, 71, 75); 295: Rafiq Ali (75, 74, 73, 73) and Shiv Prakash(75, 74, 74, 72); 297: Chini Ali (74, 76, 74, 73) and Mukesh Kumar (76, 73, 76, 72); 298: Uttam Singh Mundy (76, 78, 74, 70); 299: Yusuf Ali (78, 74, 75, 72); 300: Gast Ram (75, 75, 73, 77).

Luthra wins, finally

Amit Luthra has lost count of the number of times he has finished second in a pro tournament. “I think I have come second at least seven or right times, including to players like Phil Pilling (in the early eighties) and Rohtas Singh, but have actually never won,” said a smiling Luthra, the amateur title winner, who is now looking forward to the Asian Games in December.

The Chartered Accountant finished his last round with one-under 71, his third sub-par round — the only other player to do that was Arjun Singh, the pro winner. Luthra finished with two-under 286, just two strokes behind Arjun, in the second place overall.

Kapil Dev shot a second successive four-over 76 to finish with 26-over 314 in his first-ever full tournament. “Watch out in the forthcoming tournaments,” said Kapilhalf in jest and half seriously.

Scores (amateurs)

286: Amit Luthra (71, 74, 70, 71); 296: Harmeet Kahlon (77, 75, 70, 74); 302: Digvijay Singh (76, 74, 75, 77); 303: Shiraz Kalra (78, 72, 74, 79); 304: Arjun Singh (82, 75, 73, 74); 305: Shivin Kwatra (77, 76, 75, 77), Simarjeet Singh (76, 73, 80, 76) and Amish Jaitha (77, 76, 76, 77); 307: Amit Dubey (76, 78, 76, 77) and Keshav Misra (87, 72, 76, 72); 311: AS Bath (79, 76, 75, 81); 313: Jaideep Patwardhan (80, 77, 77, 79); 314: Kapil Dev (83, 79, 76, 76); 323: Gaurav Diwan (80, 81, 81, 81); 324: Rahul Gangjee (82, 85, 76, 81).