Ajeetesh defends title after dazzling 63 in final round

Hyderabad, February 19 

Sandhu (70-67-73-63), lying a lowly 17th and five shots off the lead after the penultimate round, pulled a rabbit out of the hat on Day 4 as he fired a dazzling eight-under 63 to take his total to 11-under 273 and set up a playoff against Bengaluru’s Khalin Joshi (65-70-70-68) in the second event of the 2017 PGTI season.

Joshi, the overnight joint leader, posted a three-under 68 in the final round.

Sandhu sealed his third professional title with an eight-feet birdie conversion on the first playoff hole (played on the 18th) even as Joshi could only manage a bogey after finding the bunker with his tee shot.

Sandhu took home the winner’s cheque worth Rs 6 lakh to emerge as the PGTI Order of Merit leader.

Sandhu didn’t have the best start to the day as he struggled on the first three holes. He found the water on the third where he dropped a shot.

The turnaround for the 28-year-old began from the fourth where he drained a 25-footer for birdie. From there on, he went on to add an eagle and six more birdies to match the tournament’s best single-round score achieved earlier in the week by Pune’s Sameer M Shaikh.

Sandhu, who has a conditional card on the Japan Golf Tour, was brilliant on the par-5s. He eagled the eighth from 20 feet and sank birdies on the sixth, 10th and 17th holes to be five-under for the day on the par-5s. 

A magnificent tee shot set up a tap-in birdie for him on the seventh.

The wiry Chandigarh lad also drove the green on the 15th and rolled in a 25-footer on the 16th that contributed towards his hat-trick of birdies in the closing stages.

Sandhu, composed as ever, despite his sensational win, said, “I’m enjoying a terrific start to the season. This win comes after a good performance in Noida last week where I finished tied-third. The HGC is turning out to be one of my favourite courses. Interestingly, I had missed the cut in the first edition. To follow that up with wins in the next two editions is quite incredible.”

Joshi was on course for his fourth win being four-under for the day through the first 10 holes thanks to a hot putter. However, a missed birdie opportunity from three feet on the 14th followed by an erratic tee shot that led to a bogey on the 15th saw him lose his grip on the title.

“It was a good putting day for me, unlike the previous rounds. But the stretch on the 14th and 15th was a poor one for me. I lost some momentum there. Nonetheless, I’ve relished the playing conditions here at the HGC and look forward to coming back next year,” Joshi said.

Veteran Mukesh Kumar struck a 68 in Round 4 to clinch the third place at 10-under 274. Delhi’s Shamim Khan (69) was a further shot back in fourth place.

Delhi’s Himmat Singh Rai, the overnight joint leader, slipped to tied-13th at three-under 281 after a final round of 76. Harendra Gupta (71) of Chandigarh, the 2015 champion, also took a share of the 13th place. — PTI