VISAKHAPATNAM
N. Thangaraja of Sri Lanka had a dream final round of six-under 66, the day’s best score, to outplay all his rivals and emerge the champion of the Rs. 1 crore Vizag Open golf championship at the East Point Golf Club on Saturday.
The five-year long wait for a title has finally ended for the 42-year-old Thangaraja (71, 73, 70, 66), who was overnight tied ninth and trailing the leader by a massive seven shots.
It was a sensational and error-free last round to triumph by one stroke at a total of eight-under 280 by the Sri Lankan which separated him from the rest of the contenders.
Chandigarh’s Akshay Sharma (67, 68, 73, 73) finished runner-up at seven-under 281 as a result of his fourth round 73.
The quartet of Samarth Dwivedi (68), Om Prakash Chouhan (69), Saarthak Chhibber (70) and Harendra Gupta (69), took tied third place at six-under 282.
Thanga, as he is popularly known, bagged the winner’s cheque worth Rs. 15 lakhs to take a giant stride from 24th to sixth position in the TATA Steel PGTI Rankings and become the 11th winner on the PGTI this season in as many events.
After making the turn at four-under for the day, Thanga made further inroads on the back-nine. His tee shot on the par-3 11th lipped out of the hole but handed him a birdie and an accurate approach on the 15th left him a three-footer for his sixth and last birdie of the day.
Thanga’s 66 proved to be good enough for the top prize as some of the other leading contenders such as Akshay Sharma (73), Sunhit Bishnoi (76), Trishul Chinnappa (74) and Shivendra Singh Sisodia (75), struggled with their games on Saturday, shooting over-par scores and thereby blowing away their chances.
The scores:
280 N Thangaraja (71, 73, 70, 66); 281: Akshay Sharma (67, 68, 73, 73); 282: Samarth Dwivedi (68, 71, 75, 68); Om Prakash Chouhan (69, 70, 74, 69); Saarthak Chhibber (68, 73, 71, 70); Harendra Gupta (67, 76, 70, 69).
