The Hindu : Sport / Golf : Mukesh pips Vijay for title

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Mukesh pips Vijay for title

NEW DELHI: Mukesh Kumar kept his cool to pip Vijay Kumar in a play-off and win the Rs. 20 lakh DDA Open golf championship at the Qutab Golf Course here on Saturday.

With the two veterans tied at the total of 12-under 268 after four rounds, the game went into the tie-breaker where Mukesh played it safe to complete the par-four 18th hole in three strokes and bag the winner’s purse of Rs. 323,300.

The victory helped him get back to the top spot on the PGTI Order of Merit by replacing Gaganjeet Bhullar.

After staying at the top for two days, Vijay kept his lead until he dropped a shot on the 14th hole. He got a birdie on the 17th but his joy was short-lived.

Messing it up

Anxious to hold his one-stroke lead for the title, the Lucknow-based golfer messed up a four feet par putt on the last hole. Mukesh gathered four birdies against the single bogey in the last round.

“My hitting was solid and my putting improved a lot today. I am at my best now,” he said. The 43-year-old acknowledged fellow PGTI member Ram Singh’s inputs which helped him perform better.

“He told me to correct my follow-through to improve my hitting. I followed his advice and it worked,” Mukesh said.

The scores: Mukesh Kumar (69, 67, 65, 67), Vijay Kumar (64, 68, 67, 69) 268; Ashok Kumar (65, 69, 66, 69) 269; Digvijay Singh (68, 70, 65, 67), R. Murthy (67, 67, 67, 69) 270; Vinod Kumar (67, 70, 68, 67), Amardip Sinh Malik (62, 71, 69, 70) 272; Joseph Chakola (67, 71, 68, 68), Harendra P. Gupta (68, 68, 68, 70), Vikrant Chopra (69, 69, 67, 69), C. Muniyappa (68, 64, 69, 73) 274; Karanjit Singh Sandhu (68, 70, 68, 69) 275; Manav Jaini (65, 73, 70, 68), Ali Sher (70, 65, 70, 71) 276; Gurki Shergill (75, 66, 72, 64), Rajiv Niranjan Datar (69, 67, 71, 70), Mandeo Singh Pathania (69, 64, 70, 74) 277; Arjun Singh (73, 66, 69, 70) 278; Vikram Rana (70, 70, 70, 69), Himmat Singh Rai (68, 70, 73, 68), Naman Dawar (72, 67, 71, 69), Pappan (67, 69, 65, 78) 279. — Sports Reporter

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