Mukesh wins sixth title

The Royal Challenge Grand Prix, Kolkata, witnessed an exciting finish as Digvijay Singh carded a string of four birdies early in the final r...

The Royal Challenge Grand Prix, Kolkata, witnessed an exciting finish as Digvijay Singh carded a string of four birdies early in the final round to put some pressure on Mukesh Kumar, who won the tournament with a total of 16-under-par, 264.

In spite of a final round 65, Digvijay had to be content with a second place finish, while Amritinder Singh finished third. “I am happy with my performance this week. Even though I have won the tourney, the scores are more important; they are proof of the good golf that one plays,” said Mukesh.

FINAL SCORES

264—Mukesh Kumar (66, 64, 66, 68); 267—Digvijay Singh (68, 65, 69, 65); 268—Amritinder Singh (67, 65, 68, 68); 271—Rafiq Ali (65, 66, 69, 71); 273— Indrajit Bhalotia (67, 70, 68, 68); 274— Uttam Singh Mundy (64, 69, 70, 71); 276—Shamim Khan (66, 74, 69, 67), Ashok Kumar (67, 70, 69, 70); Rahul Ganapathy (67, 68, 66, 75); 277— Ali Sher (66,, 71, 76, 64); 278— Sanjay Kumar (68, 69, 71, 70); 279— SSP Chowrasia (71, 69, 68, 71) 7-83-2, Waugh 5-1-9-0.

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Starting the day with a four-stroke cushion, Mukesh carded pars on the first five holes. However, he hit his tee shot in the greenside bunker on the par-three sixth from where he failed to make his putt for par, taking his overall total to 13-under-par.

Maintaining his composure, he immediately regained his lead with a birdie on the next. Another birdie on the par-five 10th and a three on the par-four 16th hole saw him move up to 16-under, giving him a comfortable three-stroke victory over Digvijay Singh.

Digvijay Singh was in focus again today. After three consecutive pars on the first three holes, he caught fire as he let loose a string of birdies on the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth holes to tie Mukesh at 13-under after eight holes.

He then birdied the tenth to get to 14-under and tie the Mukesh who had recovered his dropped shot to get to par for the day. However, Digvijay dropped his first shot of the round on the 12th, followed by another bogey on the 13th but recovered with a birdie on the 14th and carded pars coming in, to finish with a total of 267, 13-under-par.

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Starting the day tied for second place at ten-under-par, defending champion Rafiq Ali and Amritinder Singh had mixed luck.

Amritinder bogeyed the first, picked up a birdie on the second but dropped another shot on the third. He then birdied the fifth but bogeyed the sixth to get back to nine-under.

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