After a pulsating day of twists and turns, Olympian Udayan Mane won the PGTI’s season-ending Tata Steel Tour Championship by a narrow one-shot margin.
In a battle of nerves, Udayan took all upon himself for his second triumph at Jamshedpur that helped him bag the PGTI Order of Merit title for the 2020-21 season.
Mane (68-66-67-69) made six birdies, a bogey and a double-bogey in round four to end up with a tournament tally of 18-under 270 to bag Rs. 1.5 crore prize money.
The overnight joint leader along with Shubhankar Sharma, seized the early initiative with birdies on the second, third and fourth, making two-putts on the two par-5s on that stretch. He made double-bogey on the eighth but soon recovered with birdies on the 11th and 13th where he sank 10-feet putts.
He said: “My mind was racing at the start of the day but I just calmed myself by telling myself that it’s just another round of golf with my good pals Shubhankar and Veer and we’re just going to have a shootout.”
“I had no idea about my Order of Merit chances until informed by my good friends Khalin Joshi and Chikkarangappa on the second day. It played in my mind but I knew that I still had to play good golf at the end of the day to win,” he added.
Speaking about the golf course, he said, “I just like the courses here in Jamshedpur. That’s the reason I’ve won here twice. It’s a good test for the professionals to adapt from one course to another in the middle of the round.”
Two-time Asian Tour winner Rashid Khan (70-72-66-63) matched the tournament’s lowest round of nine-under 63 on Sunday to climb 10 spots and finish runner-up at 17-under 271. Delhi-based Khan, made an eagle and seven birdies in round four, gave himself an opportunity to have a shot at the title.
Khan, lying tied 30th after his first two rounds of 70 and 72, made a brilliant rearguard action with scores of 66 and 63 in the last two rounds to make a strong comeback in the tournament. As a result of his runner-up finish, Khan jumped from ninth to fourth place in the PGTI’s final money list.
Two-time European Tour winner Shubhankar Sharma, the overnight joint leader, shot a final round of 72 to take the fourth place at 15-under 273 along with four-time European Tour winner SSP Chawrasia (70). Shubhankar’s challenge faded away on the back-nine where he conceded three bogeys and a double-bogey in exchange for two birdies.
Kartik Sharma is Emerging Player of the Year
Twenty-one-year-old Kartik Sharma of Gurugram won the PGTI Emerging Player of the Year title with season’s earnings of Rs. 18,22,750, the highest among the rookies.
