Mukesh Kumar wins
Surya Nepal Masters

Mukesh Kumar won his second golf title in as many weeks, when he captured the Rs 750,000 Surya Nepal Masters after his second successive round of six-under 66 in Kathmandu on Saturday.

Lucknow's Vijay Kumar missed out on the title as he finished second after a final round of one-over 73. His four-day aggregate was nine-under 279.

Kanpur's Shiv Prakash shot a two-under 70 to take the third place at five-under 283, while local pros - Deepak Thapa Magar and Deepak Acharya - were among those tied for the fourth place at two-under 286. Others in the fourth place were rookie pro Rahul Ganapathy, who shot a six-under 66 on Saturday and Uttam Mundy.

Mukesh earned Rs 1,21,500 for his victory, while Vijay had to be satisfied with a cheque for Rs 84,000. Shiv Prakash got Rs 47,250. Ganapathy, Mundy, Deepak Thapa and Deepak Acharya were richer by Rs 29,812 each.

Starting two strokes behind Vijay, Mukesh began with a tap-in birdie on the first hole after his 9-iron shot left him with a putt of less than one feet. In fact, the outcome of the tournament was decided on the opening hole itself when Vijay's awesome drive went straight into the jungle on the left side across the fourth fairway and he had to settle for a triple bogey after taking penalty drops twice.

Mukesh was on fire as his short-iron shots peppered the flags with almost radar-like accuracy. On the par-5 third, he went into the right greenside bunker with his second shot but made his up-and-down for a birdie. On the fourth, he chipped to one feet and went three-under for the day.

On the sixth, he hit the sand-wedge second shot to less than a foot again for another birdie. On the par-4 ninth, he took the tiger line over the trees and drove the green but was left with a eagle putt of over 150 feet. A brilliant first putt left him three feet short and he duly made another birdie to go five-under at the turn.

Vijay did not give up without a fight. After the disaster on the first hole, he made a 20-footer birdie putt on the second and then added birdies on the fifth, seventh and ninth to make the turn at one-under and just two strokes off Mukesh.

On the back nine, Mukesh made a bogey on the 10th and the lead was cut to one stroke. But on the 14th hole, Vijay made a bogey and followed it with a double bogey on the 15th after hitting the right drain on both occasions. Mukesh too made a bogey on the 15th, but the fate of the tournament was sealed by that time.

Rahul Ganapathy, the leader in the race for the Rookie of the Year, played a brilliant round of six-under 66. The Mysore-based pro, who won the All-India Amateurs title last year made one bogey - on his penultimate hole - and had one eagle and five birdies during his round.

SCORES (after 72 holes): 274 _ Mukesh Kumar (69,73,66,66); 279 _ Vijay Kumar (72,66,68,73); 283 _ Shiv Prakash (72,70,71,70); 286 _ Rahul Ganapathy (71,75,74,66), Uttam Mundy (69,67,79,71).
Amateurs: 298 _ Rahil Gangjee (84,69,69,76); 317 _ Bijesh Shahi (80,77,76,84); 320 _ C.B Bhandari (80,81,76,83).

UNI