Yuvraj Sandhu receives his trophy and cheque from PGTI CEO Amandeep Johl (right) and Clover Greens Golf Course and Resort general manager Noorallah Patel. Image courtesy PGTI.
By Rahul Banerji
Yuvraj Sandhu pipped Udayan Mane over a five-hole playoff to win the PGTI Players Championship at Clover Greens Golf Course and Resort near Hosur on Friday.
Both overnight leader Sandhu and Mane, who was second, ended regulation play on identical totals of 28 under par 256 to take the issue into the extended playoff, the PGTI said.
For Sandhu (63-67-61-65), it was back to back titles after winning the Mysuru Open last week and gave him a commanding lead in the PGTI Order of Merit with a cheque worth Rs 15 lakh.
The Chandigarh resident’s fourth victory of the year, achieved after a closing 6 under 65 and a gritty playoff performance, took his season’s earnings to Rs 88,67,200 a lead of over INR 25 lakh in the PGTI’s merit list.
It was also the 28-year-old’s second wire-to-wire win in two weeks.
Pune Olympian Mane (67-65-62-62), a 12-time winner and former PGTI Order of Merit champion who was looking to end a four-year-long victory wait, moved up to fourth on the money list with earnings of Rs 10 lakh on Friday.
Delhi’s Kshitij Naveed Kaul (68-67-64-66) claimed third place on 19 under 265.
Top amateur
Eighteen-year-old Veer Ganapathy (65) of Bangalore won the best amateur trophy as he was tied for fourth on 17 under 267.
The others sharing fourth place were Delhi’s Shaurya Bhattacharya (65), Kartik Sharma (67) of Gurgaon and Nepal’s Subash Tamang (67).
Sandhu, who registered his 13th professional win, was on point with the driver as he drove Par-4 greens thrice on Friday.
He also picked up shots on three out of the four Par-5s by landing his second shots on the green with some outstanding ball-striking.
Sandhu was on a roll on the front nine as he picked up five shots. However, on the way back, he mixed four birdies with three bogeys allowing Mane a window of opportunity.
The Punekar, who began the day with birdies on the first four holes, went on to add another five thereafter at the cost of a lone dropped shot.
Trailing Sandhu through the day, Mane caught him when the latter dropped a bogey on the closing 18th that forced the playoff.
After the first four playoff holes (the Par-3 18th) were halved, it came down to the shortened fifth extra hole where Sandhu came up with an immaculate tee shot that set up a four-foot birdie putt.
Memorable result
Even as Mane made par on the fifth playoff hole, Yuvraj sank his birdie putt to clinch a memorable victory.
“I would like to thank my team consisting of my mental coach, my physical trainer, my coach Gurbaaz Mann who is here today and my family,” Sandhu said.
“They’ve all contributed a lot in making me believe that I can be the best.
“During the playoff, I kept telling myself that this is what you live for, train for and dream of. That kept me going.
“Then on the decisive playoff hole, the yardage of 104 yards from the tee was just perfect for me. In practice, I have often holed my shots from that distance. So I was quite confident on the tee and visualised my shot well that helped me get it close to the flag.
Big help
“It was fun today playing the leader group with Mane as we have known each other for so long. In my first year at the international level, Udayan and Samarth (Dwivedi) helped me a lot.
“Our friendship goes beyond golf. Today Udayan kept me on my toes. He’s playing really well and I’m sure a win is around the corner for him.
“My driving has stood out these two weeks. I worked a lot with my coach Gurbaaz on my driver during the off-season, hitting 200 balls a day till my shoulder would actually start to hurt.
“All that hard work along with my determination, competitiveness and never-give-up attitude helped at the end.”
Also read: Yuvraj Sandhu goes 10 under to widen Clover Greens lead
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