Aman Raj completes wire-to-wire win to end 22-month title drought at IGPL Jaipur

Jaipur (Rajasthan) [India], October 25 (ANI): Aman Raj held his nerve and kept young Kartik Singh at bay to end his 22-month-long drought by winning the Indian Golf Premier League (IGPL) Invitational Jaipur.

The 30-year-old Aman, who hails from Patna but now lives in Gurgaon, shot a final round of 2-under 68 after 61-61 on the first two days to win by two shots. It was his third win in Jaipur after previous wins in Jaipur in 2018 and 2023, according to the press release from IGPL.

Aman Raj, who totalled 20-under, as Kartik finished at 18-under, which included a final round of 4-under 66. Kartik was contending for the fourth time in a row in IGPL, and this time a double bogey on Par-3 16th proved costly, though he did his best to make up by picking birdies on the 17th and the 18th, but it was not enough.

The experienced Aman Raj made no mistake and picked up pars on the last two holes to grab a two-shot win.

"It was a long-awaited win and means a lot because of the injuries and many changes in life and career. It's been a while since being in contention, and I really can't believe the mistakes I made. I guess I figured a way to play on off days, but it was too many things at once," said Aman Raj after the wire-to-wire success as quoted by IGPL

Aman was generous in his praise of Kartik and said, "Great show by Kartik, a lot of wins are coming his way! I think Jaipur has been the lucky charm, will be looking forward to the same form and performance in the upcoming events

"Kartik was tenacious, and even though I dropped those two bogeys on the back nine, I knew I could pull it off. Then Kartik dropped a double bogey, so I did not have to stretch myself or put any pressure on myself," he said.

Aman Raj became the third different winner in four IGPL Tour events after Gaganjeet Bhullar in the first and second events in Chandigarh and Jaypee Greens, and then Kapil Kumar in Poona

It was the fourth straight Top-10 for Aman, who also has a win now, while it was also a fourth straight Top-10 for Kartik, who is still searching for his maiden pro win.

Earlier, Aman Raj, starting at 18-under, opened the final day with a birdie but dropped a shot on the fourth as Kartik, playing alongside him, had two birdies against one bogey on the first four holes. Then Aman had four birdies in a row from the fifth to the eighth while Kartik had just two. That gave Aman the dominant position. Aman Raj allowed the door to open with two bogeys on the 14th and the 15th as Kartik birdied the 13th and the 14th. When Kartik double bogeyed the 16th, the momentum was back with Aman Raj, who made no mistake and parred the last two holes to still win by two despite Kartik's birdie-birdie finish.

Sachin Baisoya (65) was third at 17-under and tied with Tushar Pannu (63). Harendra Gupta (64) was in sole fifth at 16-under.

IGPL debutant Udayan Mane (69) could not get going and ended Tied-sixth with Shat Mishra (64) and Sudhir Sharma (62) at 14-under.

Rahul Ravi (66) was the top amateur at 8-under in T-21st place, while the top woman pro was Ridhima Dilawari (67) at 7-under and at T-23. (ANI)

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