KARAN SOARS TO MAIDEN VICTORY
Nineteen-yearold rookie Karan Pratap Singh clinched his maiden professional title in spectacular fashion as he sank an eagle on the last hole of the final round at the TATA Steel PGTI Feeder Tour at the Golden Greens Golf Club, in Gurugram.
Gurugram-based Karan Pratap Singh (71-68-68) delivered a second consecutive four-under-68 during round three to claim a well-deserved two-shot victory at nineunder-207 at the `8 lakh event.
Interestingly, rookies have now won the last two tournaments on the TATA Steel PGTI Feeder Tour. Last week, another rookie Yuvraj Singh Sandhu had triumphed in Karnal.
Local lad Shivendra Singh Sisodia (71-67-71) finished second at his home course with a total of seven-under-209.
Teenager Karan, who occupied second position, one shot behind leader Shivendra on day two, put up a fine display of driving and iron-play on day three to register a memorable come-from-behind win.
Karan, who had also posted a round of eight-under-62 and a tied seventh finish at the Bengal Open earlier this year, climbed from 25th to fifth place in the TATA Steel PGTI Feeder Tour Order of Merit as a result of his triumph on Thursday. He won a prize purse of `1,01,720.
Karan said, “I played solid today having made 15 regulations and 10 fairways. I couldn’t have asked for a better time to pull out my best shot of the tournament, the approach on the
18th. Even the tee shot on the 18th was a tough one but I struck it well.
“I kept my cool through the day and really held my nerve in the finishing stages. Importantly, I put the disappointment of the two bogeys behind me pretty quickly and instead focussed on the next hole.
“To win so early in my professional career is a huge confidence-booster. My driving and iron-play were terrific this week. I’ve worked a lot on my short-game, which is also getting better. I would like to thank my parents Mr Sandeep Singh and Mrs Ritu Singh for all their support and encouragement,” added Karan, currently a B.A. First Year student at the Delhi University’s School of Open Learning. Shivendra, the overnight leader and one of PGTI’s two top-60 players competing at the event, dropped to second place in round three after a 71 that was punctuated by two birdies and a bogey. Sisodia had a forgettable back-nine where he made a bogey on the 10th followed by eight pars. He thus struggled to close the gap with Karan in the dying stages.
Greater Noida’s Arjun Sharma (70) came third at sixunder-210. Chandigarh’s Yuvraj Singh Sandhu, the winner last week in Karnal, and Delhi’s Ashok Kumar finished joint fourth at four-under-212.
Local lad Shivendra Singh Sisodia (71-67-71) finished second at his home course with a total of seven-under-209