Chandigarh’s Karandeep Kochhar records maiden IGPL win

Chandigarh’s Karandeep Kochhar ended his wait for a maiden title on the IGPL tour with a hard-earned victory at the IGPL Invitational UAE hosted by Shiv Kapur. Kochhar pipped young Veer Ganapathy and Pukhraj Singh to bag the title. Kochhar, a recent winner at the Asian Development Tour, made up for his runner-up finish at the IGPL Invitational Kolkata, while Ganapathy’s wait for a first pro win continued as he was left knocking at the doors yet again.

Kochhar shot a third straight 3-under 69 to total 9-under, while Ganapathy, who was seemingly coasting to a fine win, was left ruing a costly triple bogey on par-4 14th hole on the back nine. He shot even par 72 and finished one shot behind Kochhar. Also finishing tied second was Pukhraj, the winner of IGPL Jamshedpur. He shot 2-under 70 and like Ganapathy was left at 8-under and one behind the winner.

Pranavi Urs, the history-maker at IGPL Mumbai, where she beat Kochhar to the second place, was sole fourth. She shot 1-under 71 and totalled 7-under for the 54 holes. Pranavi became the first woman winner on the IGPL and the first woman to win a pro event while playing against men.

Kochhar and Urs were second behind Ganapathy after the second round. With a two-shot lead Ganapathy seemed set for a win, that ultimately slipped away from him on the back nine. Kochhar, who started the final round two shots behind the 36-hole leader, Ganapathy, played steady. With three birdies in the first eight holes, he kept putting pressure on the young Bengaluru star. He dropped a bogey on the ninth, but again picked birdies on the 13th and the 14th. He dropped a bogey on the 15th, but there were no more stumbles as he finished with three closing pars.

On the back nine, Ganapathy sole error with a triple bogeyed on the 14th ended his hopes.