Angad lifts season’s 2nd golf trophy

City golfer Angad Cheema picked up from right where he left off at the PGTI’s mid-season break. The winner of the final event of the season’s first half, he lifted the trophy in the first event at the resumption of competition — the Rs 1 crore Coal India Open 2025, played at the Kensville Golf & Country Club in Ahmedabad.

Cheema (69-67-69-70) fired a 2-under 70 in round four to end up with a week’s total of 13-under 275. It was the 35-year-old’s fourth PGTI win overall. Cheema took home the winner’s cheque worth Rs 15 lakh that lifted him from 10th to 2nd position in the PGTI Order of Merit as his season’s earnings went to Rs 55,56,726.

Noida’s Amardeep Malik (69-65-72-73) signed for a 1-over 73 in the final round to secure a runner-up finish. Amardeep climbed 27 spots to 21st position in the PGTI Order of Merit. Delhi’s Shaurya Bhattacharya (70) and Pune’s Udayan Mane (71) claimed tied third place at 7-under 281.

Yuvraj Sandhu (71) of Chandigarh ended the week in fifth place at 6-under 282 to continue in the lead in the PGTI’s money list with his season’s earnings amounting to Rs 58,67,200.

Cheema, the overnight leader by one shot, built on his lead over the front-nine on Friday by accumulating four birdies in exchange for a bogey. Then on the back-nine, Angad’s two long birdie conversions from a range of 15 to 25 feet saw him home despite his three dropped shots on the 12th and 17th. “I would like to give credit for my great putting this week to my caddie Khushi Ram who gave me the correct lines and speed on the greens,” said Cheema.

He said he enjoyed playing alongside close friend and roommate Amardeep in the last two rounds, adding, “We share a great equation and thus we enjoyed a lot of light-hearted banter playing in the leader group.” Malik, who trailed Cheema by one shot after round three, mixed three birdies with four bogeys on day four to slip out of contention.

Delhi-based amateur Rakshit Dahiya won the trophy for the best performance by an amateur after he finished tied 10th at one-under 287, while Ahmedabad’s Varun Parikh took tied 19th position as he closed the week with a total of one-over 289.