Shiv Prakash triumphs

Shiv Prakash banked on his years of experience as a professional golfer when he played a solid final round to win the inaugural Cotton City Open title.

At the par-72 Coimbatore Golf Club course on Sunday, Shiv shot a one-over 73, but that was enough to hand him his first title on the Hero Honda Golf Tour in ten months and the winner's cheque of Rs 1,37,700. Shiv's final tally stood at two-under 286, three strokes better than the second placed Vivek Bhandari of Delhi.

Bhandari brought in a card of two-under 70 today for a 72-hole aggregate of one-over 289. Mhow's Mukesh Kumar was third at 292, while Chandigarh's Amritinder Singh and Patna's Mohammed Islam tied for the fourth place 294.

Rookie Rahil Gangjee gave a good account of himself in only his second tournament as professional with a seventh place finish at 296.

Last week's Hindu Open winner Yusuf Ali was one place better at 295, while Mysore's Rahul Ganapathy put the tips from coach Brandon de Souza to good use to return a three-under 69 which placed him finish tied eighth with SSP Chowrasia at ten-over 298.

No words of praise can do justice to Shiv Prakash. The 44-year old golfer, despite being written off time and again, keeps coming back to remind one and all that experience, and not age, matters when it comes to winning tournaments.

"I am thrilled with the win. When I walked into the Coimbatore Golf Club six days ago, my first impression was that this was the prettiest course I have ever seen. Then I played a round and that settled it. I fell in love with this course. The greens are the best I have played on," gushed Shiv Prakash, whose last victory on the Tour was at Wills Northern Open in Lucknow in November last year.

Shiv's strategy on Sunday was to play it safe. "I knew that the wind could change the course of the game in seconds. So, attacking golf was out of the question. I decided to play it safe from the start," he said.

Starting the day with a sea of parred holes, Shiv's first eventful hole was the ninth, which he birdied, "After that birdie, I was convinced that I would win," said the champion.

A birdie on the 12th preceded a bogey on the 14th with his third birdie of the day on the 15th placing him at two-under at that stage with a six-stroke lead over Bhandari.

"Then I started having fun and bogeyed the 16th, 17th and 18th but only because I thought it wise to play it safe," concluded Shiv, who now leads the Order of Merit this season.

Bhandari cannot be faulted for finishing second. The Delhi Golf Club pro posted as many as five birdies in his day's round of 70, but Shiv's overnight lead proved to be too high a hurdle to cross.

"I was one-over after the fourth hole, which I bogeyed. But the only thing on my mind today was to keep the ball in play and make as few putts as possible," said Bhandari who birdied the fifth, ninth, 11th, 13th and 16th holes. His bogeys came on the 15th and 17th.

"This was my best finish in a long time on the Indian Tour and I am satisfied with my week's performance," said the golfer who missed nearly all of last year due to a spondylitis problem.

"It has been a pleasure playing the Coimbatore Golf Club course. The greens here compare with some of the best I have played on all over the world," he added.

Mukesh Kumar, the top ranked golfer on the Indian Tour for the past two seasons, returned a four-under 68 to finish three spots higher from his overnight tied-seventh position.

"I have not been playing too well this season but I know it is just a temporary phase. This would have been thrilling experience in that the course and weather conditions were really challenging," said Mukesh who also won the Order of Merit last year.

MAHESHWARAN BAGS AMATEUR TITLE: N Maheshwaran of Ooty won the amateur title with an aggregate of 309 despite carding a 79 today. V Ranga Rao finished second at 316.

Scores (after 72 holes): 286 _ Shiv Prakash (74,68,71,73); 289 _ Vivek Bhandari (75,66,78,70); 292 _ Mukesh Kumar (74,74,76,68); 294 _ Amritinder Singh (73,74,74,73), Mohd. Islam (72,72,70,75); 295 _ Yusuf Ali (73,72,75,75); 296 _ Rahil Gangjee (77,72,76,71); 298 _ Rahul Ganapathy (80,76,73,69), Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia (74,76,74,74); 299 _ Vijay Kumar (76,73,74,76); Amateurs: 309 _ N Maheshwaran (80,76,74,79); 316 _ Vigesh Ranga Rao (69,83,83,81)