Shiv wins Matchplay

Earlier in the day, Chandigarh8217;s Amandeep Johl fired three consecutive birdies on the last three holes to wrest the third place from last year8217;s champion Indrajit Bhalotia of Calcutta.

It was the season8217;s third victory for Shiv who had lost out in the semi-finals last year to Bhalotia.

8220;I was confident of winning here,8221; said the 39-year-old Shiv after finishing the marathon 36-hole final. 8220;My putting was exceptional today and I think that mattered a lot in the end,8221; he added. Shiv three-putted only once, on the 11th, today.

But it was Mukesh who started the day witha bang. He struck an eagle on the very first hole to jump into the lead while Shiv played steady to par.But that was the only time Mukesh must have smiled on the course. Shiv made it all square with a par on the very next hole even as his Mhow friend erred to drop a shot.

A birdie on the fourth put Shiv ahead who from thereon systematically built on the lead to three holes at the end of the first half.

He continued his dominance in the second half even though Mukesh did come up with some good golf. Infact Shiv had the lead stretched to four after 24 holes and was comfortably poised.

But the game was far from over as Mukesh made a headway back into the game. Birdies on the 29th and 30th holes saw him reduce the margin to one hole. But like the first few holes of the day, a temporary lapse of concentration saw Mukesh lose the initiative once again. He dropped shots on the 31st and 32nd holes to see the gap widen again to three. He did manage a birdie on the 34th but it came in rather too late. Shiv halvedthe 17th with a par to pocket the Rs 1.75 lakh winner8217;s cheque. Mukesh had to be satisfied with Rs 1.1 lakh.

While it was the season8217;s third title for Shiv, it was the third time that Mukesh had been relegated to the runners-up spot. He had earlier finished second at the Surya Nepal Open Kathmandu, Nov 11-14 and the Wills Western India Open Pune, Dec 10-13 with Delhi8217;s Ali Sher.

Shiv8217;s run to the final included wins over Amandeep Johl semi-final, Bunty Randhawa quarter-final, Rohtas Singh 3rd round, Prakash Kubde 2nd round and Dinesh Raghuvanshi first round.

Victory here also meant 30 valuable points for the Kanpur golfer who is placed second on the Mahindra Order of Merit for the Rs 5.76 lakh worth Champion Golfer of the Year title.

RESULTS

Final: 2-Shiv Prakash bt 5-Mukesh Kumar 2/1; Third place: 14-Amandeep Johl bt 8-Indrajit Bhalotia 1 up.