Mukesh wins BGC golf

Mukesh Kumar held his nerve, fighting off heavy odds, to carve out a resounding win at Rs 550,000 Leela Palace - BGC Open.

The victory handed him his second straight ‘Champion Golfer of the Year’ award as well as an accompanying cheque of Rs 850,000.

On Sunday, Mukesh returned an impressive two-under 66, to win with a tally of eight-under 264. The tournament win fetched him an additional Rs 89,100.

The tournament was part of the celebrations for the 125th year anniversary of the Bangalore Golf Club.

Vijay Kumar, winner of the award in 1998-’99 and ‘99-2000 was, for the second straight year, forced to swallow a bitter pill. Additionally, Vijay, for the first time in four years, relinquished a top place in the Order of Merit (determined by the highest prize-money winner of the season), losing out once again to Mukesh.

In the tournament just-concluded, Vijay aggregated three-under 269, with Delhi’s Vinod Kumar sitting at third place, two strokes behind him at one-under 271.

Calcutta's Feroz Ali finished fourth at two-over 274, while Delhi’s Rohtas Singh occupied the fifth spot at five-over 277. This season's ‘Rookie of the Year’ award winner Rahul Ganapathy finished tied-18th at 291, while the ’Putter of the Year’ award winner Indrajit Bhalotia withdrew due to injury. Ganapathy stands to benefit to the tune of Rs 150,000 for winning the award, while Bhalotia’s award will come along with a cheque of Rs 100,000.

Mukesh Kumar began the day three strokes behind Vijay and the way he started the day looked like he would struggle to hold on to that lead. A bogey on his very first hole, where he failed to sink a simple four feet putt reduced the gap between him and Vijay to two. However, a birdie on the 3rd nullified the effect of the poor start. On the par-four 6th, Mukesh’s approach shot found the crater behind the green from where he made a good bogey.

Thereafter, the Mhow-based golfer shifted gear admirably posting birdies on the 11th, 12th, 14th and 17th, with a lone bogey on the 15th, where he again messed up a four-feet putt.

"This is the first time I have beaten Vijay on the final day of a tournament. I decided right from the beginning that I would play not against the course, but against Vijay Kumar," said Mukesh, who tallied 27 putts on Sunday.

"My brother Dinesh advised me yesterday to strictly aim for the greens and two-putt there from. I followed this religiously and it worked wonders for me. Winning the tournament feels great but winning the award feels really exhilarating," said Mueksh, who had to card a win here to be certain of winning the ‘Champion Golfer of the Year’ award.

Vijay Kumar, understandably was a dejected man today. "I putted really badly," said the golfer who had earlier in the day gone to the extent of changing his tried and trusted caddy to return a better putting score.

Vijay had a simple round with a bogey on the 2nd and a birdie on the 17th.

"Mukesh putted really well and I was note even in contention for most of the day. It is disappointing to lose out on winning the award but that is life. Losing out on topping the Order of Merit also hurts,” said the Lucknowite, who pocketed Rs 61,600.

Dewan wins among amateurs: Gaurav Dewan returned a final round score of level-par 68 to emerge triumphant in the amateur category. Dewan’s four day tally stood at 12-over 284. David deSouza finished second at 298, while Anand Ranga Moola occupied the third spot at 305.

SCORES (after 72 holes): 264_Mukesh Kumar(66,68,64,66); 269_Vijay Kumar(66,67,68,68); 271_Vinod Kumar (D) (68,66,69,68); 274_Feroz Ali(68,67,68,71); 277_Rohtas Singh(72,68,68,69); 279_ SSP Chowrasia(72,70,68,69); 281_Binod Pandey(69,71,70,71), DS Raghuvanshi(68,68,74,71); 282_Rajesh Rawat(71,70,71,70); 286_Sanjay Kumar(70,70,72,74); 287_Vishal Singh(69,76,74,68), Jumman(75,71,71,70), Sujay Ghorpade(72,71,71,73).

Amateurs: 284_Gaurav Dewan(73,72,71,68); 298_David deSouza(74,76,72,76); 305_A Ranga Moola(75,79,77,74)