Arjun Singh ends title drought

GURGAON, Aug 8: Arjun Singh opened the 1998 season rather impressively by winning the Wills Masters on the Wills Sport Golf Tour at the C...

GURGAON, Aug 8: Arjun Singh opened the 1998 season rather impressively by winning the Wills Masters on the Wills Sport Golf Tour at the Classic resort this afternoon. And by doing so, he ended a frustrating 20-month title drought, which saw him go through the whole of last season without a win, despite being in the top 10 in each of his nine starts.

There was no overt display of elation, just a calm smile and a matter-of-fact reaction. 8220;I knew I could win, it was just that I couldn8217;t get the act together.8221;

During the last four days, the common refrain has been 8220;Arjun is the man best suited for this course.8221; 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.

Arjun8217;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 Prakash75, 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. 8220;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,8221; said a smiling Luthra, the amateur title winner, who is now looking forward to the Asian Games in December.

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The Chartered Accountant finished his last round with one-under 71, his third sub-par round 8212; 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. 8220;Watch out in the forthcoming tournaments,8221; 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.