Golf meet: Chandigarh’s Abhijit Singh Chadha cruises to comfortable 6-shot win

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 4

Chandigarh’s Abhijit Singh Chadha cruised to a comfortable six-shot win after shooting a solid last round of 4-under 66, his third consecutive bogey-free round, at the Pune Open Golf Championship, today.

Chadha (63-65-64-66), leading by one shot at the end of round three, sank four birdies on Saturday to end up with an impressive winning total of 21-under 258. He negotiated tough conditions to perfection through the week as he went error-free for 71 holes after his bogey on the first hole in round one. He thus lifted his third title, which also accounted for his first win in six years. He took home a prize money cheque worth Rs6,46,600 to move up nine spots to 15th place in the PGTI Order of Merit.

Rookie Kartik Sharma (66-60-67-71) of Gurugram, who was placed second, one shot off the lead, after round three, returned a one-over 71 on the final day to finish second at 15-under 264. His round featured a birdie and two bogeys as the putts didn’t roll in for him. Nonetheless, it was a career-best finish for the left-hander who moved up seven spots to the 18th place in PGTI’s merit list. It was also his fifth top-10 this season.

Kolkata’s Sunit Chowrasia shot the day’s best score for the second day in succession to finish third at 13-under 266.

In round four, Chowrasia’s 65 was matched by Chandigarh’s Yuvraj Singh Sandhu (tied 8th at 7-under 272), Bengaluru’s C Muniyappa (tied 17th at three-under 276) and Gurugram’s Ankur Chadha (tied 26th at 2-over 281). The par for the course was 70 during round four. Play commenced on time on Saturday. The day witnessed a light drizzle in the afternoon towards the closing stages of the tournament.

Chadha, a silver medallist from the 2010 Asian Games, dominated the proceedings from the outset in round four as he began pulling away from the rest of the field early on.

Chadha, who is a football fan and enjoys listening to Punjabi music, said: “I am proud of my effort as I handled myself really well the entire week, especially with the conditions not being favourable. I didn’t expect it to be so calm today, but Sharma made a few mistakes early on and I capitalised on them. From there on, it was just about keeping the ball in play. So I was quite relaxed for most of the round.”

Bengaluru’s Syed Saqib Ahmed (69) took fourth place at 9-under 270. Among Pune golfers, amateur Rohan Dhole Patil (75-67-68-70) had the best finish as he secured tied 24th place at one-over 280. Delhi-based amateur Krishnav Nikhil Chopraa, son of former cricketer Nikhil Chopra, struck a hole-in-one on the 16th hole during his final round of 67. He claimed tied 26th place at 2-over 281.

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