Arjun wins Honda-Siel PGA
by nine strokes
Arjun Singh became the first player in the history of
the Honda-Siel PGA Championship to successfully defend his title, when he won
the ninth edition of the biggest tournament on the Hero Honda Indian Golf
Tour, offering a prize purse of Rs 2.5 million, on Sunday, the concluding day at the
par-71 DLF Golf & Country Club.
Arjun aggregated 11-under 273, thus winning by a massive margin of nine strokes.
Last year, at the Delhi Golf Club, he had won by four strokes. The duo of
Mukesh Kumar and Feroz Ali, who leave for Johar Bahru in Malaysia tonight to
represent India in the Nations Cup, got a boost before the tournament when
they finished tied for the second place at two-under 282.
The victory earned Arjun a whopping cheque of Rs 4,05,000, while Feroz and
Mukesh were richer by Rs 2,18,750 each.
Vivek Bhandari, the champion in
1997, continued his impressive stride up the leaderboard and an even-par 71
helped him to sole possession of fourth place at two-over 286.
South African
Wallie Coetsee, Gaurav Ghei, Vijay Kumar and Uttam Singh Mundy were tied for
the fifth place at three-over 287.
Arjun began the day with a birdie on the first hole and never looked like
dropping a shot. By the time he finally dropped a stroke, on the par-3 16th
where he three-putted, his challengers were so far behind that it never
really mattered. And just to make it a grandstand finish, he even birdied
the difficult 490-yard par-4 18th, where he hit a 6-iron second shot into
the green and converted a 10-feet putt.
Arjun's other birdie came on the
par-5 sixth, where he hit a brilliant shot from the front bunker to about
six feet from a difficult pin position.
"I am very happy because I badly wanted to win this title. The last time I
played at DLF, I shot a four-day score of six-over during the Hero Honda
Masters in February. I never really got the hang of the course and
desperately wanted to get the better of it this time. It all fell in place
and the key to my score was the fact that I made the putts when it mattered
most," said a jubilant Arjun, who leaves for the USA in two weeks to take
part in the first stage of USPGA Qualifying School.
On a day when the pin positions demanded safer approach shots to the greens,
Feroz dropped some stunning putts -- a 15-footer on second, a 50-footer on
the fifth and a 20-footer on the eighth -- and was four-under at the turn
with another birdie on the ninth. But the Air Sahara-sponsored player could
not keep up the momentum on the back nine and a bogey from the greenside
rough killed his chances of finishing runner-up alone.
Mukesh Kumar, the Money List leader and thrice Champion Golfer of the Year,
made some great putts, but they somehow refused to drop for the fourth
successive day. Despite missing at least five birdie opportunities, Mukesh
played even-par 71 with two birdies and two bogies.
"I don't think I could
have won even had the putts dropped because Arjun was playing outstanding
golf. He had superb rhythm on all four days and he putted brilliantly. He
was a deserving winner in the end," said the humble Mhow pro paying rich
tributes to the winner.
Bhandari was four-over after five holes but did exceptionally well to pull
back to finish the day even-par.
Coetsee took full revenge on the two holes
that costed him five strokes yesterday by making an eagle on the par-5 14th
and a birdie on the par-4 17th as he finished one-under 70. Ghei struggled
with his game and had four bogies on a trot from the second hole onwards. He
had two double bogies as well and submitted a dismal card of 77.
SCORES (after 72 holes): 273 _ Arjun Singh (69,66,69,69); 282 _ Feroz Ali
(71,70,72,69), Mukesh Kumar (72,70,69,71); 286 _ Vivek Bhandari
(74,73,68,71); 287 _ Wallie Coetsee (72,66,79,70), Uttam Singh Mundy
(69,72,71,75), Vijay Kumar (69,71,71,76), Gaurav Ghei (68,70,72,77); 288 _
Harmeet Kahlon (71,69,73,75); 290 _ Digvijay Singh (73,75,69,73), Rahul
Ganapathy (74,70,73,73), Steve Dent (72,71,74,73); 291 _ Shiv Prakash
(73,74,72,72), Jaiveer Virk (71,72,76,72), Rafiq Ali (70,70,79,72), Ashok
Kumar (70,69,77,75), Yusuf Ali (70,68,76,77).
Amateurs: 299 _ Manav Jaini
(73,72,74,80)
Earlier reports:
Day 3: Arjun Singh takes six stroke lead
Day 2: Arjun Singh surges ahead with 5-under 66
Day 1: Ghei leads with a three-under 68
