Rajesh Kumar Gautam receives his NexGen trophy from (left to right) IndusInd Bank senior vice-president Vikas Bhoot, Rahul Mehta of Victorious Choice, COO and director of Golden Greens Golf & Polo Club Ravi Grover, and PGTI CEO Amandeep Johl at Golden Greens on Thursday. Image courtesy PGTI..
By Rahul Banerji
Rookie Rajesh Kumar Gautam, a serving Army man, won the season-opening PGTI NexGen tournament at the Golden Greens Golf & Polo Club near Gurgaon on Thursday.
The Lucknow golfer shot a steady final round of level par 72 to register a two-shot victory on a total of 9 under par 207 at the inaugural 54-hole event, the PGTI said.
The 35-year-old, overnight leader by three shots, made five birdies and five bogeys on Thursday to hang on to his lead and record his first professional win.
Gautam (69-66-72) picked up a winner’s cheque worth Rs 2,54,300 to lead the PGTI NexGen Order of Merit.
Chandigarh’s Rajiv Kumar Jatiwal (65-73-71) posted a 71 in the third and final round to finish runner-up on 7 under 209.
Sourav Choudhary (71-72-68) of Mhow had the day’s best card of 68 to rise eight spots on the leaderboard and finish third on 5 under 211.
Gautam produced four birdies and three bogeys on the front-nine on Thursday which included a chip from the bunker on the ninth that set up a tap-in birdie.
On the back nine, he added another birdie and two bogeys. He landed it within three to four feet of the flag throughout the day.
“Even though I was not in good driving form and couldn’t execute my plans of hitting maximum regulations today, I managed to stay ahead thanks to some accurate iron shots and putting,” Gautam said.
“I was regularly landing my shots close to the flags. It’s great to win in only my second start after turning professional. This gives me a lot of confidence going ahead.”
Also read: Lucknow’s Gautam leads the field at inaugural NexGen event
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