Players Championship winner Viraj Madappa of Kolkata in action at the Classic course on Thursday, marking a successful return from a long injury-enforced break. Image courtesy PGTI.
By Rahul Banerji
Viraj Madappa won his first event on return from a long injury layoff with the Rs 60 lakh PGTI Players Championship at the Classic Golf & Country Club near Gurgaon on Thursday.
The Kolkata golfer shot a day’s best of 7 under par 65 in the third and final round to climb four places from overnight tied fifth and finish on a total of 11 under 205 at the 54-hole event, the PGTI said.
Twenty-seven-year-old Madappa (67-73-65), who didn’t play a professional event for over a year, won by a two-shot margin from Bangalore’s Trishul Chinnappa (72-64-71), who finished on 9 under 207.
Chandigarh golfer Ranjit Singh (69) and Kapurthala’s Yuvraj Singh (68) shared third place on 8 under 208.
Third title
International winner Madappa lifted his third professional trophy and the first since 2021, after he signed for a flawless card that featured an eagle and five birdies.
He began the day with birdies on the first two holes and then added another on the seventh to make the turn at three under.
On the back nine, Madappa had an eagle on hole 14 and two more birdies to race ahead of the field. He earned up a cheque worth Rs 9 lakh for the win.
Overnight leader Chinnappa made an eagle, a birdie and two bogeys to earn Rs 6lakh for his runner-up placing that lifted him from 74th to 36th in the PGTI Order of Merit.
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