Comfortable victory for Shamim
Capitalising on his three-shot overnight lead, Delhi’s Shamim Khan played an errorfree round on the final day to claim victory in the Kolkata Classic with a dogged even-par-72 on Friday that earned him his first title at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club.
Shamim ended the `40 lakh event with a total of 10-under-278 to bag his 13th professional title and take home a cheque worth ` 6 lakh. He also climbed from fourth to first in the PGTI Order of Merit. Reigning Indian Open champion and pre-tournament favourite local boy S.S.P. Chawrasia finished runner-up at five-under-283 after a final round of two-under-70.
Kolkata’s Shankar Das (72) was third at four-under-284.
There was a marked difference in Shamim Khan’s (70-68-68-72) ball-striking on Friday. He went from hitting six of 16 fairways in Round Three to 10 of 16 in the final round. This massive improvement in his tee shots helped him coast to victory without much trouble.
The 38-year-old made a confident start with an eight foot birdie conversion on the second. He had a few anxious moments when he dropped two shots but his lead was intact as nearest rival Mukesh Kumar of Mhow stumbled with five straight bogeys at the same time.
Shamim, the PGTI’s all time prize money leader with over `3 crore in earnings since 2006, consolidated his lead by draining a 25-footer for birdie on the 12th and making a brilliant chip-putt for birdie on the 15th.
Chawrasia (71-70-72-70), starting tied fifth seven off the lead, carded an eventful 70 that featured an eagle, four birdies, two bogeys and a double bogey to improve by three places.
Mukesh, overnight second and three off the lead, slipped to tied fourth at three-under-285 on Friday after a forgettable 76 that saw him drop six shots over a stretch of seven holes. Chandigarh’s Sujjan Singh (71) & Om Prakash Chouhan (71) of Mhow shared fourth place with Mukesh.
Shamim ended with a total score of 10under-278 to bag his 13th professional title and take home `6 lakh, thereby climbing to first place in the PGTI Order of Merit