After a battle which boiled down to a head-to-head contest, Mukesh Kumar won the Hero Golf Chandigarh Open beating Uttam Singh Mundy by a single shot at the Chandigarh Golf Club on Friday.
Despite carding a final round of 1-over 73, Mukesh logged an overall total of 12-under 276 for his one-shot victory.
"I love coming here. The course is getting better and tougher by the day. The Chandigarh Golf Club has proven lucky for me," said Mukesh, who registered his fourth victory in the Green City.
He walked away with a winner's cheque of Rs 1,89,840 and increased his lead on the Amby Valley PGAI Tour Order of Merit. Uttam, who finished with an overall 11-under 277, had to settle for Rs 1,30,440.
Vijay Kumar paid dearly for missing at least six easy birdies to finish third at 279. Arjun Singh shot the day's best of 5-under 67 to tie with Feroz for the fourth spot.
Vinod Kumar's challenge ended half-way through the round as he went 5-over to finish sixth at 282. Ashok Kumar, Shamim Khan and Digvijay Singh were tied for the seventh place at 284.
Defending champion Harinder Gupta made a valiant attempt with a final burst of four-under 68, but it was too little, too late, tying for the 10th spot at 285.
On the final day, the early challenge came from Vinod Kumar, who birdied the second while Mukesh played safe with pars till he lost a stroke on the fifth.
Meanwhile, Feroz Ali, playing a group ahead of the leader, made three consecutive birdies starting from the second to inch closer and at one point looked like pulling away. till he lost his rhythm.
He ended up in the bushes on most holes, the costliest of them being the easy par-5 13th where he lost a stroke. Uttam Singh made three birdies in a row from the fifth to tie with Mukesh at 12-under.
At the turn, Mukesh hit a superb second shot and made a birdie to hold a solitary stroke advantage. The competition heated up as both bogeyed the 10th. It was on the par-5 13th that Uttam saved a stroke as Mukesh failed to nail a 5-footer birdie putt.
With the scores tied, Uttam three-putted for bogey on the par-3 14th. This was the turning point as Mukesh held on to that one-stroke advantage, even as the Kolkata golfer missed birdies narrowly on the next three holes.
Coming to the final hole, Mukesh drove to the centre of the fairway while Uttam was in the trees on the left. A stunning second shot from Mukesh ensured a par at least.
Uttam, going for the pin from the hard surface, landed just over the green and left his putt short to end with a par. Meanwhile, Gaganjeet Bhullar fired a superb 4-under 68 for an overall two-under 286 to win the Amateur title, while Rahul Bakshi finished second two strokes behind. They finished 13th and 18th respectively in the overall standings.
