Rohtas Singh & team win BPGC Pro-am

The veterans of the Wills Sport Indian Golf Tour -- Rohtas Singh and Basad Ali -- shared the limelight in the DHL Pro-am, which set the tone for the 22nd BPGC Open at the par-70 Bombay Presidency Golf Club course, on Wednesday.

Rohtas and his team, comprising Pranesh Kejriwal, Sharad Govindraja and Uday Man Singh, won the team championship with a total of 12 points. That was four points better than the runner-up team of pro Rafiq Ali and amateurs Shahrukh Kavarana, Wing Commander SC Chatterjee and Surjit Dugal.

There were two teams tied for the second runner-up spot at six points - Rezwan Ali and Shiv Shankar Prasad Chwrasia's. But on the countback over last nine holes, Rewan's team of Mohan Thadani, Rani Maheshwari and Gopal Sahi were declared winner on the basis of better scores.

In the individual scores for pros, it was Kolkata's Basad Ali, who shot a round of six-under 64 to take the top honours. The round must have acted as a warning bell for the rest of the field as Basad missed the cut for the first time in almost eight years last week and is eager to make up for his dismal performance in Pune. Rohtas was second at four points (effectively a four-under 66 round), while Feroz Ali, winner of last week's Wills Western Open, was third at three points.

For their part in the team victory, Rohtas received Rs 5,000, while Rafiq was richer by Rs 3,000. Rezwan and Chowrasia shared the third prize of Rs 2,500. Basad Ali was awarded Rs 3,000 for his individual performance, while Rohtas and Feroz Ali took home Rs 2,000 and Rs 1,000 respectively.

The DHL pro-am was played on an against bogey format in which any player scoring a nett birdie or better gets plus one point, while a nett bogey or worse fetches minus one point. Each team comprised one professional and three amateurs, with the team score on each hole being a total of the pro score and the two best amateur scores.

Meanwhile, preparations were complete for the main event which starts tomorrow with the first tee off scheduled at 7:45 am. As many as 97 professionals and 11 amateurs will be participating for the main tournament. The halfway cut will be applied after 36 holes and the top-50 and ties will proceed to the money-making weekend rounds. The main tournament is co-sponsored by Pepsi and Standard Chartered Bank.

The BPGC Open offers a total prize-money of Rs six lakh, with the winner taking home Rs 97,200. The runner-up will earn Rs 67,200.

Among the star attractions of the tournament are Order of Merit leader Shiv Prakash (Kanpur), Mahindra Rankings leader Mukesh Kumar (Mhow), winner of first pro tournament in Bangladesh earlier this month, Vijay Kumar; Wills Western Open champion Feroz Ali, twice Indian Open champion Ali Sher, veterans Rohtas Singh and Basad Ali, Wills Southern Open winner Indrajit Bhalotia and the exciting new rookie Rahul Ganapathy.

A notable absentee will be the defending champion Digvijay Singh, who is scheduled to play the Thailand Masters during the week.