Shubhankar lifts PGTI cup on home turf

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 15

Shubhankar Sharma saved his best for the last as the local boy won the TAKE Open Golf Championship at the Chandigarh Golf Club here today.

Shubhankar, the most experienced amongst the top-5 after Round 3, finally came through at his home course. He posted a 5-under 67 in Round 4 to overcome a two-shot overnight deficit. He bagged the championship with a total of 12-under 276. Patna’s Aman Raj, the overnight leader by one stroke, carded a one-under 71 to finish second at 10-under 278. Chandigarh’s Akshay Sharma (71) finished a creditable third at 9-under 279, while another local emerging golfer, 18-year-old player Karandeep Kochhar, shot a 70 to finish tied-4th at 8-under 280 alongside Bengaluru’s Khalin Joshi (69).

Gurugram-based Jyoti Randhawa (68) claimed sixth place at 7-under-281 while Rashid Khan (68) of Delhi and Chandigarh’s Sujjan Singh (70) were a further shot back in tied-7th.

Shubhankar (68-70-71-67), lying third overnight, managed to turn it around on the final day. He shot seven birdies and just two bogeys. He had a poor start as he three-putted the opening hole for a bogey. The 21-year-old then got his new putter to work immediately. He shot three birdies from a five to eight feet on the second, third and fifth holes. He took control on the back-nine with a run of three birdies against a bogey between the 13th and 16th holes, including a 40-feet birdie conversion on the 14th hole. Shubhankar knocked in a 25-footer for birdie on the 18th hole to seal his fifth PGTI title and a cheque of Rs 15 lakh.

“I made an important change to my game today. Changing my putter before the round was a perfect execution to win the title,” Shubhankar said.

“The turning point was the birdies on the 13th and 14th holes. It’s quite satisfying to win at the CGC, which has one of the most challenging layouts in the country. It is a true test of one’s skills,” added Shubhankar. “The win gives me loads of confidence to go and do the same on the Asian Tour.”   

Raj (73-67-67-71), the third-round leader, held on to his lead on the front-nine as he made two birdies and a bogey. The 22-year-old finally conceded the lead with bogeys on the 11th and 12th. He shot two birdies in the last six holes but still fell short.

“My hitting was solid once again but I paid the price for missing a lot of putts today,” Raj said. “Whenever I missed the green, I couldn’t make the up and down. But I’ll take a lot of positives from this performance since it gets me in contention in the PGTI Order of Merit race.”

Akshay (71-68-69-71) — who was second overnight, one behind the leader — slipped to third after a round of 71 that saw him make four birdies against three bogeys. Akshay’s top-3 finish lifted him from 35th to 14th position in the PGTI Order of Merit.