Yuvraj Sandhu receives the IndianOil Servo Masters trophy and winner’s cheque from IndianOil chairman A.S. Sahney (second from right) and PGTI president Kapil Dev (third from left). Also seen are Rahul Prashant of Digboi Refinery, K. John Prasad and tour chief executive Amandeep Johl. Image courtesy PGTI.
By Rahul Banerji
Yuvraj Sandhu cantered home by seven strokes to win his third IndianOil Servo Masters title at the Digboi Golf Links in Assam on Friday.
The rankings leader bounced back after two successive playoff losses as he scripted a thumping start to finish triumph, his fifth win of the season, the PGTI said.
Sandhu (65-69-66-69), who set out six shots clear of the field was rarely troubled by his pursuers in totalling an impressive 19 under par 269 for the week at the landmark 25th edition of the Rs 1 crore event.
The 28-year-old from Chandigarh picked up a cheque of Rs 15 lakh to take his season earnings to Rs 1.21 crore for a lead of over Rs 29 lakh in the PGTI Ranking.
Defending champion Jamal Hossain (68-73-70-65) of Bangladesh retuened the final day’s best card of 7 under 65 to climb from a tied for eighth overnight into sole second place on 12 under 276.
Shaurya Bhattacharya, Saptak Talwar and Veer Ahlawat shared third place on 11 under 277 while Deven Bhumij of Digboi, the only local professional to make the cut, was 54th on 10 over 298.
Scope to improve
Sandhu equalled his previous run of five wins in a PGTI season, achieved in 2022 and with more events to come, it is mind-boggling to think what is still possible though he will play an Asian Tour tournament next.
The overnight leader dropped a shot early but bounced back with two birdies and an eagle before the turn to open an eight-shot gap on the pack.
Two further bogeys on the back nine were negated by as many gains as he sailed to a comfortable win at the end.
Sandhu, who holds the record for the lowest winning total of 23 under 265 in Digboi, said, “It was a pretty relaxed day as I enjoyed a big lead at the start of the round.
“I was trying to get to my goal of greens in regulation. After the eagle on the seventh, I was once again in the zone and was looking to break my record here.
Special venue
“Digboi will always be special for me as I won my first PGTI title here. I’m delighted to win here for the third time and winning by a big margin is something I always cherish.
“The playoff losses in the last two matches were disappointing but I took it as a learning curve and my team did a good job in getting me to put my head down and keep doing what I was doing well.
“My team’s belief in me and all the work I’ve put into the mental side of my game helped me get back to winning ways this week,” added Yuvraj who picked up his 14th professional title on Friday.
Hossain’s 65 featured an eagle and five birdies and finishing second earned him Rs 10 lakh and a rise to fifth place in the PGTI Ranking.
Bhattacharya’s T3 lifted him from third to second in the money list with season’s earnings of Rs 92,52,075.
Also read: Sandhu takes six-shot lead into final round of Servo Masters
Discover more from Tee Time Tales
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.