Buoyed by fans, Madappa keeps calm to lift title

FINAL SCORES

Call it premonition, Viraj Madappa, India’s youngest winner on the Asian Tour at 20, had an uneasy Saturday night, spent visualising the winning putt of Take Solutions Masters.

He did pull it off on the 18th green of the Karnataka Golf Association for his first professional win, but the restlessness stayed till tee off on Sunday. He had reason to feel so. Two shots off the lead, it was uncharted territory for Viraj. But if changing coach seemed to have changed his luck, shifting base here in 2016 from Kolkata made it like playing at home and having a calming influence. “I got a lot of energy from the audience, and that I am from Coorg helped as well. This crowd matched Kolkata (the noise level),” he said. There was work to be done nonetheless, and like the going the past two years, Viraj ground it out on the front nine, playing even par and refusing to look at the leaderboard.

It was after making the turn that he gained momentum with four birdies. “The back nine suits my eye,” he said explaining his run in that phase this week. It wasn’t till the 15th tee box that he glanced at the scores. Still back by a shot, something told him it would be his day and brought a smile. Scott Vincent, the leader, bogeyed the 16th and 17th, and by the time they arrived on the 18th green, there was none better than

BENGALURU:

268: Viraj Madappa

(70, 65, 66, 67) ($63,000)

270: Scott Vincent

(66, 71, 65, 68); Suradit Yongcharoenchai (66, 69, 69, 66); Danthai Boonma (66, 61, 73, 70); Miguel Carballo (66, 66, 67, 71) ($23,100)

272: Khalin Joshi (67, 69, 64, 72); Honey Baisoya (70, 66, 66, 70); SSP Chawrasia (69, 65, 68, 70) ($10,068) Viraj. In triumph, he chose to dwell on the past two years, trying to an extent that he questioned himself many a time. His scores nosedived, leading to a change in coach and base, and also that college semester in USA. It didn’t help his golf but “helped a lot otherwise”, said Viraj, who was the Professional Golf Tour of India’s rookie of the year last season.

Back from the US and the journey of self-discovery, Viraj got back to fulfilling a promise he made in 2012. Pitted against Shubhankar Sharma in the final of AllIndia Amateur Championship at Kolkata, Viraj lost, but it showed the path ahead. “That was when I decided to make it as a pro.”

Post Sunday, schedules and life will need a relook, but that’s fine with Viraj as change has been a constant lately.