Mukesh Kumar wins by a mile

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI, SEPT. 8. It began with a bang and ended with scarcely a whimper. But, through it all, Mukesh Kumar from Mhow played with a trapeze artist's focus and delicate skills to capture his first title of the season in the Rs. 10 lakh Tamil Nadu Golf Federation Open at the Cosmopolitan Club course on Saturday.

Five strokes behind Mukesh Kumar and lying third after three rounds, Feroz Ali from Kolkata promised the world as he played spectacular golf over the first five holes with three birdies and an eagle. The gap had narrowed to a solitary stroke and there was the promise of a grandstand finish.

But even as Feroz suddenly seemed to have been seized by what pro golfers in the United States and Europe call the yips, Mukesh Kumar, sensing danger, pulled away like the champion he is with birdies on the par five sixth and seventh.

The few golf fans who followed the leaders would later talk about the short putt that Feroz missed on the 14th even as Mukesh sank a difficult long one. But, by then, the fight had been won and lost and barring a miracle nobody but Mukesh could have reached out for the Rs. 1,62,000 top prize.

``The first win of the season is always special. And to do it like this makes it even more special,'' said Mukesh Kumar, who turned in a card of four under 68 for a course record aggregate of 15-under 273.

In the event, the man from Mhow picked up an extra Rs. 10,000 offered by the TNGF for winning with a record score.

``At the start of the round I thought I would play safe but the way Feroz chased me I knew I had to raise my game and do something really extraordinary to take keep my lead,'' said Mukesh Kumar.

And the special stuff came on holes six and seven which he birdied in style even as Feroz lost a stroke on the seventh. By then the difference was four strokes once again.

But, then, it had hardly seemed an easy task for Mukesh when Feroz scorched the course over the first five holes with a birdie-eagle-birdie-par-birdie start.

``I believing in attacking golf and that is what I started playing. I knew then that I had a real chance. But suddenly I began to experience problems on the greens. My putts simply wouldn't go in,'' said Feroz Ali who, as it turned out, was to face a bigger nightmare.

On the 18th, with a great chance of finishing runner up, Feroz saw his shot from the tee box go out of bounds and he needed seven shots (three over) to finish the home hole.

``That was a shock. I just don't know what happened,'' said Feroz Ali, who ended up with a card of 72 for an aggregate of 282 which saw him tie for the third place with Shiv Prakash from Kanpur.

Sanjay Kumar, who shot a 72 too, finished with 280 and took the runner-up spot while the defending champion Rohtas Singh from Delhi, after a fourth round 70, finished tied 17th.

What the pro event couldn't provide in terms of drama, the amateur event did with C.V. Yudvir and Gurunath Meiyappan fighting all the way to the finish.

It was Yudvir who won the absorbing battle from a tiring Gurunath to deny the latter the rare feat of winning three major events in a row.

Yudvir shot a fourth round 73 for an aggregate of 297 while Gurnath, with a card of 74, ended up with 298.

Leading pro scores: 273 - Mukesh Kumar; 280 - Sanjay Kumar; 282 - Shiv Prakash, Feroz Ali; 283 - Digvijay Singh; 284 - Gaurav Ghei, S.S.P. Chaurasia; 285 - Ajay Gupta, Rafiq Ali, Uttam Singh Mundy.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Sport
Previous : Kiwis through to quarterfinals
Next     : Radhika wins title with ease