Ganapathy creates history
with 12-under 60

Rahul Ganapathy stole the limelight from Mukesh Kumar with a scintillating performance that saw him card a record-breaking 12-under 60 on day three of the Rs 850,000 Servo Masters being played at the par-72, Digboi Club Golf links.

Ganapathy's effort, the lowest ever score to be recorded in a single round on the Hero Honda Golf Tour, was, however, not good enough to upstage Mukesh Kumar from the lead. The Mhow golfer continued to sit atop the leader-board with a tally of 15-under 201 courtesy a third round 69.

Ganapathy bettered the previous best effort of ten-under 60, shot by Vijay Kumar en route his victory in the OCM Open in 1996 at the par-70 course in Amritsar. In recent times, Mukesh Kumar (TNGF Open 2001 and Tiger Sports Marketing Open 2000) and Sanjay Kumar (Wills Northern Open 2000), have shot rounds of nine-under.

While Ganapathy was placed second at 11-under 205, Delhi's Shamim Khan occupied the third position at ten-under 206. Another Delhi golfer Ashok Kumar was fourth at seven-under 209.

"I am both thrilled and shocked," were the first words that came out of the 23-year-old Rahul, even as it took sometime for the success to sink in.

"After the first four holes, I thought I could go for the course record. And once I was seven under after twelve, I really went for it. I even dared to use a driver on the 15th, where I lost a stroke yesterday by doing so. I think everything was going in for me today," added the golfer, whose bogey-free round was studded with 10 birdies and an eagle.

After missing a birdie on the first, Rahul began his birdie spree with a hat-trick on the second, third and fourth before holing consecutive birdies on the eighth and ninth. The Bangalore-based pro then scorched the 11th and 12th with birdies before eagling the par-4 fourteenth with a superb chip-in from about 25 yards. He birdied the 15th and then sank 15 feet putts for birdies on the 16th and 17th.

"Tomorrow is another day and anything can happen. Mukesh is a very consistent golfer and it will be really difficult to beat him. But I will give it my best shot," said Rahul, who had just 23 putts for the day.

That 12-under 60 was not enough to upstage Mukesh Kumar goes to show the quality of golf the Mhow golfer has been putting on display this season. Consistency personified, Mukesh birdied the third, seventh eighth, 14th and 15th and despite dropping shots on the 11th and 17th, gave himself enough room to make a final day's charge at his fifth title on the Tour this season.

"I played consistently and this helped me maintain my lead despite Rahul's excellent round," said the thrice Champion Golfer of the Year award winner.

"It is the most wonderful round I have seen in many years. I think it will do a lot of good for Indian golf," said the veteran Rohtas Singh, who has seen many a kid grow in golf.

"It is a commendable performance by the youngster," said champion Mukesh himself.

A visibly thrilled Ganapathy said: "I am thrilled. As soon as I completed my round, the first person I called was my coach Brandon de Souza. I give him full credit for this achievement of mine. I would also like to thank my parents for being so supportive. When I called home, my mother picked up the phone and couldn't stop screaming when I told her of my achievement.

SCORES (after 54 holes): 201 _ Mukesh Kumar (68,64,69); 205 _ Rahul Ganapathy (74,71,60); 206 _ Shamim Khan (69,70,67); 209 _ Ashok Kumar (71,68,70); 212 _ Yusuf Ali (71,71,70); 213 _ Ali Sher (74,71,68), Sanjay Kumar (74,70,69), Mohd. Salim (72,70,71), Sheeraz Kalra (72,70,71), Feroz Ali (72,69,72), Rafiq Ali (72,69,72), Digvijay Singh (69,71,73); 214 _ Ajay Gupta (75,69,70), Ranjit Singh (72,69,73).

Amateurs: 236 _ Ajay Barua (78,76,82); 247 _ Utpal Deka (85,81,81)

Earlier reports
Mukesh Kumar cracks course record
Mukesh forges ahead in Servo Masters

Mail Cricket Editor