Mukesh Kumar fired a final round 68 to win the Rs 10 lakh ONGC Noida Open 2006 by five shots on Friday.
The Mhow golfer's tournament tally of 16-under 272 earned him the winner's cheque of Rs 1,58,200. This was his fifth triumph on the 2005-06 Amby Valley PGAI Tour.
Kolkata's Uttam Singh Mundy, who began the day tied for the lead with Mukesh, shot a one-over 73 for an aggregate of 11-under 277 and pocketed Rs 1,08,700 for finishing second.
Local amateur Jasjeet Singh did the club proud with a brilliant display over the four days that saw him tally nine-under 279 to finish third among the professional field.
The quartet of Vijay Kumar, Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia, Harinder Gupta and Ashok Kumar (DLF Golf & Country Club) shared fourth position at eight-under 280.
Mukesh has won the PGAI Order of Merit six times in the past seven years and finished second on the only other occasion to Ashok Kumar. This season, the 39-year-old has amassed in excess of Rs 17 lakh in prize money earnings and leads the field by a great distance.
His round today commenced with a driver-four iron combination and a chip to one foot saw him drain the birdie putt. On the fourth and seventh, his birdies were set up by excellent drives that necessitated only sand wedges to the green. He nailed both these to within inches of the pin.
Three under at the mid-way stage, Mukesh birdied the 13th to open up a six-stroke lead over Mundy. A bogey, his only one of the day, came on the 16th but Mukesh made up with a birdie on the 17th and a par on his closing hole to emerge victorious.
On the other hand, Mundy missed an easy chip for birdie on the first and followed it up with another birdie miss on the second. He went on to drop shots on the fifth and ninth where he overshot the greens.
On the 10th, Mundy's tee shot found the green-side water body costing him another shot. For the record, he went on the birdie the 14th and 17th to secure second position for the third time this season.
The third place result, which was his best career finish till date, was Jasjeet's Singh career best in a PGAI Tour event. He fired a final round 70 ahead of his elder bother Simarjeet Singh, who finished second among amateurs at 291.
