S. Chikkarangappa won a thrilling play-off against compatriot Shankar Das to lift the Surya Nepal Masters Trophy here on Saturday.
Four Indian golfers — Abhinav Lohan, overnight leader Chikkarangappa, Abhijit Singh Chadha and Das — battled for top honours, with each one of them leading at some stage of the final round. It was Das who emerged the clubhouse leader at 15-under.
Chikka, two strokes behind the leader, made two birdies in the last three holes to get into a play-off with Das after both ended with a total of 15-under 273. Chikka beat Shankar on the second play-off hole to walk away with the winner’s cheque for Rs. 4.85 lakh, while Das was richer by Rs. 3.35 lakh.
Shamim Khan, who led at the end of 36 holes, finished seventh at 11-under 277.
The scores (top-five): S. Chikkarangappa (69, 65, 67, 72) and Shankar Das (67, 70, 68, 68) 273 (Chikkarangappa won on the second play-off hole); Abhijit Singh Chadha (71, 67, 68, 68) and Abhinav Lohan (69, 69, 66, 70) 274; Shivaram Shrestha (NEP) (67, 72, 69, 67) and Angad Cheema (64, 70, 73, 68) 275. — PTI
Sports Reporter from Bangalore adds:
Speaking to The Hindu , the 20-year-old Chikkarangappa attributed the win to a few changes he made to his game, with the help of his coach Vijay Divecha.
“I used to frequently get wrist pain because I used to flip it on impact. This has been an issue from the time I started playing golf. My grip was very tight as well. My coach and I have worked on these two,” he said.
