By Rahul Banerji
Young Ahmedabad golfer Varun Parikh eased to his maiden PGTI win, winning the Rs 1 crore Kapil Dev-Grant Thornton Invitational 2022 by a comfortable five-shot margin in Gurgaon on Friday.
Parikh, who earned PGTI membership by topping the Qualifying School held earlier this year in his hometown of Ahmedabad aggregated 11-under-par 277 at the DLF Golf and Country Club,
For a second successive day, the 24-year-old returned the day’s best card of five-under 67 to go with scores of 73, 70 and 67 over the first three days.
Gurgaon’s Manu Gandas was second on six-under 282 (74-66-73-69) in the event made remarkable by the fact that only the top four (and ties) finished with sub-par totals.
Overnight joint leader Kartik Sharma took third place on four-under 284 (71-67-72-74), three shots ahead of joint fourth place finishers Om Prakash Chouhan and Divyanshu Bajaj (one-under 287 each).
Handsome purse
The victory earned Ahmedabad’s Parikh a cheque of Rs 15 lakh, while Gandas, already a four-time winner this season, took home Rs 10 lakh.
Former India cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni who played in the Pro-Am in earlier the day, presented Parikh with the champion’s blazer.
Dhoni, making a rare appearance on the golf course, earlier joined fellow World Cup-winning captain and tournament host Kapil Dev in the Pro-Am played concurrently with the event.
Parikh’s triumph lifted him from 28th to fourth place on the PGTI Order of Merit, while Gandas moved to third on the money list.
Parikh dropped two shots early against a birdie on the first three holes. His round took off thereafter as using the three wood off the tee instead of driver began to pay dividends
He sank six birdies from the fourth hole onwards that had four long conversions including a mammoth 70-footer on 11.
Early nerves
Varun said, “I just followed my game plan from the range itself. I was a little nervous and a little shaky to begin with to be honest.
“My goal was not to make birdies, it was just to make pars, so after the third hole, I didn’t make a bogey. Initially the pressure got to me a little bit but after that, I held myself together really well.
“I’m just really happy to cross the line, it’s been a long time coming. I’m now looking forward to more wins this season.”
Also read: Parikh shoots day’s best to join Sharma in KDGT Invitational lead
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