Yusuf Ali lifts maiden title

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI, AUG. 11. For a young man who was at the doorstep of his first major success on the Tour, Yusuf Ali from Kolkata, aged 23, played remarkably nerveless golf over the second nine holes to win the Rs. 1,21,500 top prize and his maiden title in The Hindu Open at the Cosmo-TNGF course on Saturday.

Tied with overnight leader Pappan from Delhi after the front nine, Yusuf Ali played percentage golf to perfection, doing just enough, and nothing more, to romp home a winner by two strokes.

The Kolkata pro ended up with an aggregate of 280 - eight under for four days - with day scores of 69, 71, 69 and 71. Pappan finished runner up with 282 (66, 72, 70, 74) on a day when Gurunath Meiyappan turned in an impressive card of two under 70 to win the amateur title by a mile, so to say, over Sandeep Syal.

It was a near perfect day for golf - overcast for the most part and windless. The pre-dawn rain helped make the fairways softer and more predictable and even though the greens could have been better the ball was not really running on them - which was a major plus.

And, looking back, what was shaping up into a rousing contest involving three players, Yusuf Ali, Pappan and Vijay Kumar, the defending champion, was decided on the 14th and 15th holes.

It was on the 14th - trailing Ali by no more than a stroke - that Pappan hit a poor second shot and then bogeyed the hole to fall back by two strokes. The pattern continued on the 15th where once again Pappan's second shot knocked off a few leaves from the tree in front of him before the ball landed in front of another tree, with the pin barely in his sights. He had another bogey there and the match had been won and lost.

Vijay Kumar, for his part, was putting so poorly that he slowly fell out of contention. And Yusuf Ali, by now, was sure that all he had to do was play well within himself and steer clear of risks. This he did wonderfully well.

The winner's drive on the 17th was a beauty and on the 18th, aware that even a double-bogey would do the trick, he played a seven-iron from the tee for a drive a teenaged girl could not have been proud of. He followed that up with conservative second shot and finished the last hole with a bogey.

``I knew I had to shake off Pappan on the second nine. Once I had the lead, I started playing safe. This is a great win for me. I am really excited,'' said Yusuf Ali. Pappan seemed to be on song after his birdie on the seventh but the bogey on the ninth set him back a little for Ali had a birdie on that very hole.

``Yusuf played better golf today,'' admitted the Delhi pro. ``I had my chances but the bogey on the ninth took away my feel with the pitching wedge,'' said Pappan after his career best tournament finish which earned him Rs. 84,000.

Vijay Kumar, meanwhile, had a horrendous last hole - something that could have been even worse but for a spot of luck that saw the ball come off a golf bag on to the fairway when he tried to get out of the bunker, for, if not for the accident the ball would have gone out of bounds - which he double bogeyed and ended up tied for fifth place with two others.

Vishal Singh and the two-time Indian Open champion Ali Sher, who brought in the day's best cards of four under 68, shared the third place even as Vijay Kumar shared the fifth with Rohtas Singh and Shiv Prakash.

Gurunath Meiyappan treated himself to a marvellous victory in the amateur event less than two weeks from his wedding day. The amiable young man relished the softened fairways and greens and played superb golf over the back nine where he started with two birdies and never looked back to turn in a card of 70 for an aggregate of 290.

The enormity of the accomplishment from an amateur can be gauged from the fact that Gurunath's 290 was good enough for the 13th spot among the pros. Sandeep Syal, who also had his best round in four days, a two under 70, finished second with an aggregate of 298.

Mr.Phil Spender, Managing Director, Ford (India), presided and gave away the prizes.

Leading pro scores: 280: Yusuf Ali; 282: Pappan; 283: Vishal Singh, Ali Sher; 284: Shiv Prakash, Rohtas Singh, Vijay Kumar; 285: Rahul Ganapathy; 287: Basad Ali, Mukesh Kumar, Mohd Islam.

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