Vijay Kumar defends Hindu Open title successfully

CHENNAI, August 26: Vijay Kumar, despite dropping four shots in last five holes and closing with a level-par 72, successfully defended his title at the Rs 7.5 lakh Hindu Open, being played on at the par-72, 6654-yard Cosmopolitan Club golf course, today.

The Lucknow golfer had a tournament tally of nine-under 279, two strokes better than Gaurav Ghei, who finished with a two-under 70 round for a seven-under 281 aggregate. At joint-third spot were Shiv Prakash and Mukesh Kumar at six-under 282. Rafiq Ali and Sanjay Kumar were joint-fifth at five-under 283 while Amish Jaitha finished sixth at four-under 284.

The day’s best card was brought in by rookie Rahul Ganapathy and Rafiq Ali, both finishing with a six-under 66.

It was Vijay Kumar all the way today, with the opposition not getting even remotely near him. However, he did not appear to be satisfied with his performance. "I won the tournament but there is no satisfaction. I was 13-under after 13 holes and dropped four shots in the next five holes. This is not what I expect from myself," said the highest prize money winner for the past three seasons.

Vijay started with birdies on the first and second holes, before carding his third eagle in as many days on the sixth. A bogey on the fifth placed him at three-under at the turn. A birdie on the 11th preceded dropped shots on the 14th and 15th before the stocky golfer finished his round with an irritating double bogey on the final hole. "My bad tee shot on the 18th did me in" said Vijay, who became richer by Rs 1,21,500.

India Cements-sponsored Gaurav Ghei, who has always proved to be Vijay’s nemesis, could not perform his magic trick over Vijay today. As recently as two years ago, Vijay was forced to settle for the runner-up spot at this very event against Ghei. The defending Wills Masters champion posted birdies on the second, sixth, 16th and 18th and bogeys on the seventh and 17th, for his two-under 70, to settle for the second-place cheque of Rs 84,000.

Mukesh Kumar’s three-under 69 included birdies on the second, third (where he chipped-in from 15-feet), 12th and 14th, with a lone bogey on the 7th, caused by duffing a chip shot. "I putted very well today compared to my previous three rounds," said last season’s ‘Player of the Year’ award winner. Mukesh tallied 26 putts for the day and pocketed Rs 42,750.

Shiv Prakash, like wine, is getting better with age. The Kanpur-based golfer played an error free round of golf with a birdie on the second on his outward-journey followed by three more on the 12th, 15th and 16th on his back-nine. "I have made a good start to the year," he said after carding four-under 68 for the day and earning a cheque of Rs 42,750.

Rafiq Ali birdied the 1st, 4th, 6th, 12th, 13th and 16th, sank a 12 footer for eagle on the 2nd and dropped shots on the 9th and 15th in his six-under 66. "I am not elated with today’s performnace because I recorded 18 bogeys this week," said the dejected Calcuttan.

Rahul Ganapathy, the winner of last season’s All-India Amateur Championship and runner-up in the Q-School, gave a brilliant account of himself in his first event as a professional. Placed at nine-over 225 going into the final day, Ganapathy posted a superb six-under 66 in his final round, to finish the event at 17th position. Starting from the 10th, Ganapathy birdied his very first hole, following it up with birdies on the 13th, 14th, 16th, 1st, 6th and 7th, with a lone bogey on the third arising from a bad bunker shot. "I have performed better than I expected thanks to some timely advice from my coach Mr Brandon de Souza," said the rookie golfer, whose round included 26 putts and 13 regulations. Rahul’s earnings amounted to Rs 10,950.

Rohana wins amateur title: Sri Lanka’s top ranked amateur Anura Rohana won the amateur title with a four day tally of seven-over 295. Four strokes behind Rohana was countryman Tissa Chandradassa at 299. Chandradasa, after tying with CV Yudhvir at 299, won on a better back-nine score.

SCORES (after 72 holes):

279 _ Vijay Kumar (68,68,71,72);
281 _ Gaurav Ghei (71,71,69,70);
282 _ Mukesh Kumar (72,69,72,69), Shiv Prakash(71,72,71,68);
283 _ Rafiq Ali (74,72,71,66), Sanjay Kumar (71,73,70,69);
284 _ Amish Jaitha (73,70,70,71);
286 _ Amit Dube (72,71,75,68), Indrajit Bhalotia(71,75,69,71);
287 _ Basad Ali (72,69,74,72);
288 _ Pappan (72,73,74,69), DS Raghuvansi (71,76,71,70), Feroz Ali (75,72,68,73);

Amateurs:
295 _ Anura Rohana (73,74,75,73);
299 _ Tissa Chandradasa (72,77,73,77), CV Yudhvir (71,76,77,75)