The Hindu : Vijay Kumar and DGC, the chemistry works again

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Apr 13, 2003

Sport

Sport - Golf

Vijay Kumar and DGC, the chemistry works again

By Our Sports Reporter

NEW DELHI APRIL 12. On a course where pros dread the thick forest lining the fairways, Vijay Kumar found enough bunkers to his dismay.

Towards the end, the lead slipped from a cosy four holes to just one but he trudged along to seal the title win against Rahil Gangjee on the 35th hole, in the Rs. 10 lakhs SRF all-India Matchplay championship at the Delhi Golf Club (DGC) course here.

Vijay proved yet again that this venue holds a special place for him. It was here that Vijay won his first Asian PGA Tour title, the 2002 Indian Open. And Saturday's win against the Kolkata pro made Vijay richer by Rs. 1.75 lakhs. Gangjee had to settle for the Rs. one lakh runner-up cheque.

In the 36-hole final, there was obviously enough time for both players to test each other. While Vijay grabbed an early lead and never let Gangjee to dislodge him from that position, there were enough moments when it seemed that the match might extend into the play-off hole.

Gangjee reduced Vijay's lead twice but his grip loosened despite some brave putting.

With seven holes remaining and Vijay four up, he found three straight bunkers as if in regulation. Gangjee won the 30th and 31st on par and then eagled the par-five 32nd (14th) to bring himself to close the deficit to one.

That did the trick for Vijay. Had Gangjee made a 70-foot chip-in birdie on the par-four 33rd (15th) — the ball stuck to a perfect line but travelled with slightly more speed than needed and lipped out — the match could well have gone into the play-off.

Both parred the par-four 34th to halve, but Gangjee, in his eagerness to even the score, overshot the green and dropped his tee shot into the downhill bushes around the par-three 35th (17th). Vijay, for his part, kept a straight line and landed on the green, about 10 feet from the pin.

Gangjee could have taken another tee shot but decided that his day under the blazing sun was over, picked up the ball and shook hands with Vijay.

This was Vijay's third win on the 2002-03 Hero Honda Indian PGA Tour, having won in Chennai and Bangalore.

The results (final): Vijay Kumar bt Rahil Gangjee 2 and 1.

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