Follow Us
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, August 23
City-based golfer Yuvraj Singh Sandhu registered his maiden professional win on the TATA Steel PGTI Feeder Tour in style, winning the third leg of the tour by a seven-shot margin in Karnal, Haryana, today.
The 22-year-old (57-60-55), who came into the final day with a two-shot lead, dominated the final round with a blazing 7-under 55 — the tournament’s best score. He finished at 14-under 172 to win the tournament by a thumping seven-shot margin. Sandhu’s success in the third event of the Feeder Tour season has now lifted him from 10th to second place in the 2019 TATA Steel PGTI Feeder Tour Order of Merit.
Gurugram’s Kushal Singh (58-63-58) came up with a last round of a 4-under 58 to take the runner-up spot. His total for the week was 7-under 179. As a result of heavy rain one day prior to the event, the par-4 14th and 15th holes at the Madhuban Meadows Golf Course were rendered unplayable for the whole tournament, thus all three rounds featured 16 holes each with the par for the course being 62.
Sandhu, who had a relatively better day with the putter as compared to Round 2, began the day on a promising note. He made an eagle on the par-5 second hole where his six-iron approach landed six feet from the flag. He gained another stroke on the par-4 sixth where he drove onto the green. With his accurate ball-striking, Sandhu opened up a big lead as he birdied the ninth, 10th and 11th to all but seal the title. The man with three top-20s to his credit on PGTI’s main tour this year got another birdie on the 16th where he got out of trouble with a brilliant flop shot over the trees.
“I am delighted to have won my first professional title,” Sandhu said. “This win opens up a lot of doors for me. I know I can now take my game to a higher level and be more competitive. If I can contend in every event from here on, it will be a big pat on my back,” he added.
“In the last round, my putter was hot when I needed it to be. However, I would say that I was still not fully satisfied with my putting. I enjoyed good momentum after the three consecutive birdies from the ninth to the 11th. I thought I had the title in the bag at that stage. But I kept striving to push the bar for myself as I had a deeper number in mind,” he added.
“PGTI’s Panchkula event in May was a learning curve for me as I came close to winning there before stumbling on the last day. The lessons from that event helped me immensely in today’s final round. This time around my execution was good as I did well to close out the round. I am now keen to contend in the PGTI Emerging Player of the Year race. It will be great to compete for the honour of winning the Emerging Player against some of my former India teammates from the amateur level such as Kshitij Naveed Kaul and Priyanshu Singh,” Sandhu said.
Runner-up Kushal’s 58 consisted of an eagle and two birdies. It gave him his second top-10 and best finish of the current Feeder Tour season. Lucknow’s Rishi Kumar carded a third straight 60 to take third place at 6-under 180. Delhi’s Dhruv Sheoran posted a 62 to drop from overnight second to fourth position at 5-under-181.
Mumbai’s Anil Bajrang Mane (61) continued to lead the Feeder Tour Order of Merit after he finished eighth at 2-under 184.
Mane leads the money list with season’s earnings of Rs 1, 55,160, while Sandhu is second with earnings of Rs 1, 39,840. Karnal’s Mani Ram (62) closed the week in tied-11th at even-par 186. Karnal’s Ritesh Kumar (67), the lone amateur in the field, was 37th at 10-over 196.
1
5
8