Sri Lanka’s N. Thangaraja (second from right) receives his Bengaluru Open trophy and cheque from IndianOil executive director and state head Siddharth Agarwal (third from right) at the Karnataka Golf Association course on Friday. Image courtesy PGTI.
By Rahul Banerji
N. Thangaraja bagged his second title in four weeks and the third of the season with a resolute final round performance in the Rs 1 crore Bengaluru Open at the KGA course on Friday.
The in-form Sri Lankan shot a 2 under par 69 at the IndianOil powered event to total 18 under 266 for his seeventh professional title, the PGTI said.
Thangaraja (66-65-66-69) picked up a Rs 15 lakh cheque to take his season’s earnings to Rs 82,22,088 and consolidated his third place on the PGTI Order of Merit.
The 44-year-old from Colombo is now within Rs 6.45 lakh of merit list leader Yuvraj Sandhu.
Manu Gandas (70-63-69-66) of Gurgaon finished runner-up on 16 under 268 while Bangalore-based Rahil Gangjee shot the day’s best of 64 to share third place on 13 under 271 with Saptak Talwar (67).
Seventeen-year-old Bangalore rookie Manoj S. (66) was fifth on 12 under 272.
Delhi’s Arjun Prasad (70) finished tied for 15th on 7 under 277 to continue in second place on PGTI’s money list.
Comfortable cushion
Thangaraja opened Friday with a five-shot lead and had a mixed front nine with a birdie and bogey each.
On the back nine, he came under pressure from Gandas who ripped off four birdies till hole 15.
However, Thangaraja countered with three straight birdies of his own from hole 11 to 13 with a great approach and an accurate tee shot that kept him ahead of the pack.
A bogey on 14 couldn’t derail his round as the seasoned campaigner closed out the tournament with pars on the last four holes.
“My game turned around after I changed the grip on my putter ahead of the Chennai event,” the winner said later.
“Since then, my putting has just taken off. I’ve been very consistent on the greens over the last four weeks which in turn produced results for me.
Relaxed approach
“I was focused and relaxed all through today despite Manu making a charge and closing the gap on the back nine. I didn’t really feel pressure and just played like I did in the previous three rounds.
“I’m happy that I have been getting better with every passing week. These are good signs for me in the lead up to the DP World India Championship in Delhi next week, a tournament where I’m very keen to perform well and make a mark.”
Noida’s Kanav Chauhan (72), the only amateur to make the cut, took the trophy for the best non-professional performance, finishing tied for 33rd at level par 284.
Panchkula’s Brijesh Kumar made a hole-in-one on hole 15 during his round of 76.
Also read: Thangaraja opens dominant lead in round three of Bengaluru Open
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