Feroz braves Arjun assault
to win Hero Honda Open
Feroz Ali became only the second golfer on the Hero Honda
Golf Tour to win an event three years in a row when he sailed to a
comfortable win at the Rs One million Hero Honda Golf Open -- Pune 2002, played at
the par-71, Poona Club Golf (Ltd.).
Feroz’s tournament tally stood at
two-under 282. He joins Amritinder Singh in the record books. The
Chandigarh-based Amritinder holds the distinction of successfully
defending his title twice in succession at the Hero Golf Chandigarh Open,
Chandigarh.
Amritinder’s wins came in 1998-99, 1999-2000 & 2000-01.
Despite making a scintillating charge in his final three holes, Delhi’s
Arjun Singh fell a tantalizing one stroke short of Feroz’s tally.
Joining Arjun at tied-second spot and a tally of one-under 283 was Kolkata’s SSP
Chowrasia.
Chandigarh’s Harmeet Kahlon finished fourth at one-over 285,
while the duo of Digvijay Singh (Meerut) and Ali Sher (Delhi) finished tied
for the fifth position at two-over 286.
Jaiveer Virk (Delhi) played to 78 to
finish 14th. Overnight third placed Balbir Verma watched helplessly as his
game fell apart handing him a final round score of 11-over 82 which saw him
slip to tied-20th.
The prizes were jointly given away by Deepak Mokashi (Zonal Head, Hero
Honda Motors), Mr. Sanjay Bhan (Depty. Zonal Head – Hero Honda Motors) and
Mr Munot, Chairman – Golf Sub Committee, Poona Club Golf (Ltd).
The Hero Honda Open -- Poona belongs to Feroz Ali. So for that matter does
the Poona Club Golf Course. The Kolkatan has enjoyed some of his best
moments on this course. It was here two years ago that he broke a year-long
dry spell with a win at the Wills Western Open 2000. The following year, he
earned the proud distinction of becoming the first winner in the new
millennium courtesy his title defense at the Wills Western Open, 2001. And
now, he has made the best possible start to the new year.
"I am thrilled.
This course is definitely my favourite," said the grinning Kolkatan. "At a
moment like this I would like to thank two friends back home, Manish Periwal
and Srikanta Saha who supported me all the way when the chips were down. I
dedicate this win to them," he added.
"There was no pressure on me whatsoever today. In fact I was relaxed enough
to get careless especially in my back nine."
Feroz finished his round with a missed one-feet par putt. Earlier, the ’98 Indian Open winner started his
round with a par-bogey-bogey sequence.
"I missed a four footer on the 2nd
and then three-putted the third," he said.
This did not bother him much and
he went on to birdie the 6th before dropping a shot on his closing hole.
"I
had no clue about Arjun Singh’s charge. All along I felt there was not much
competition. Had I known Arjun was catching up, I might have tightened my
game up a bit," said the winner who took home a cheque of Rs 1,62,000 for
his effort.
Arjun Singh was commonly acknowledged as the biggest threat to Feroz’s title
aspirations. He nearly upset the apple-cart for the Kolkatan, with a
brilliant charge on his final three holes.
"When I was sitting on the eagle
putt on the 18th and Feroz was lying in a slightly awkward position off the
green, I felt I had a chance. If he had double-bogeyed that hole, we would
have had a play-off but credit to him, that he held his nerve," said Arjun.
"I am very happy with the way I played today. On the 16th, I was three-over
and lying for probably the sixth position. From there, to make is to a
runner-up finish is definitely pleasing," said the golfer who has victories
at the Hero Golf Chandigarh Open and the Honda-Siel PGA Golf Championship to
his credit this season.
Arjun’s day’s card included a double bogey on the
11th, a bogey on the 15th, birdies on the 6th, 14th, 16th and 17th
culmination with the eagle on the 18th. He played to three-under 68 today.
Chowrasia was a disappointed man.
“I have too many runner-up finishes to my
credit and getting so close yet missing out can be really depressing,” he
said.
The diminutive Kolkatan, sponsored by Sarda Plywood, birdied the 7th,
9th and 18th and dropped shots on the 3rd, 5th, 11th and 15th in his day’s
score of one-over 72.
“I have to work on my driving as that is what has
denied me a win this week. Had anybody else putted like I did he would have
won but I hit the ball all over the place,” concluded the golfer who took
home, Rs 87, 500 a sum identical to Arjun’s.
Kanitkar wins amateur title: Aditya Kanitkar surged to a comfortable
two-stroke win over Rajiv Datar in the amateur category. Kanitkar, after
bringing in a final round card of nine-over 80, tallied 19-over 284. Datar
finished second at a tally of 305 while the leader in the opening two
rounds, Sachin Nigade was placed third at 307.
SCORES (after 72 holes): 282_Feroz Ail(70,67,71,74); 283_Arjun
Singh(72,70,73,68), Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia(71,68,72,72); 285_Harmeet
Kahlon(73,72,69,71); 286_Digvijay Singh(70,74,73,69), Ali Sher(69,72,73,72);
287_Vijay Kumar(70,73,71,73); 289_Uttam Mundy(73,76,68,72), Sanjay
Kumar(71,70,74,74); 290_Chini Ali(73,73,74,70); 291_Shiv
Prakash(73,71,78,69), Amish Jaitha(75,71,73,72),Rohtas Singh(72,74,70,75);
292_Jaiveer Virk(72,65,77,78).
Amateurs: 303_Aditya Kanitkar(76,71,76,80),
305_Rajiv Datar(74,73,82,76); 307_Sachin Nigade(72,73,79,83)