Chittagong, March 24: Sri Lankan N Thangaraja came up with a classic six-under-66 in round four of the BDT 50.00 lac City Bank American Express Chittagong Open 2018 to cruise to a thumping six-shot win. Thangaraja, the overnight leader by two shots, bagged his third PGTI title as he ended the week with a record total of 22-under-266 at the magnificent Bhatiary Golf & Country Club (BGCC) on Saturday (March 24).

India's Veer Ahlawat carded a three-under-69 on the final day to finish runner-up at 16-under-272. Among the Bangladeshi golfers, Md Sajib Ali had the best finish as he clinched fifth place with a total of 11-under-277.

Thangaraja (65-67-68-66), who was in contention in the last two PGTI events before slipping on the final day on both occasions, managed to set the record straight this time around.

The 36-year-old Thangaraja didn't look in any trouble from the very start as he sank birdies on the third and sixth to extend his lead to three shots on the front-nine. He then went on to tighten his grip on the title with four more birdies on the back-nine. Thanga thus signed off with a bogey-free effort.

Thanga, who won his first title on the PGTI after a gap of three years, has now moved up from 11th to first position on the PGTI Order of Merit. Incidentally, the Colombo resident's 22-under-266 total is the lowest ever winning score achieved at the BGCC. The previous best was Siddikur's 16-under-272 at the inaugural City Bank American Express Chittagong Open last year.

Thangaraja, whose 66 was the day's joint best score, said, "I'm just delighted that I kept my focus and got the job done unlike the previous two events where I missed out on converting my opportunities in the final stages. It's great to win a title after such a long gap and that too with my best ever four-round total of 22-under. This really lifts my confidence for the rest of the season. I'm glad that I've come back well after recovering from my knee injury.

"A strong front-nine today which featured a chip-in birdie on the sixth set up the win for me. I played steady, was patient and didn't get too ahead of myself. I hit it quite close through the day. I had set myself a target of 22-under at the start of the day and was quite satisfied to achieve it," added Thanga, who now has three top-5 finishes from five starts in the 2018 PGTI season.

Veer Ahlawat (69-66-68-69), who was overnight third, fired a last round 69 to gain one position and claim second place. He had a promising start with two birdies on the first three holes but thereafter could manage only three more birdies at the expense of two bogeys.

India's Aman Raj (65-68-69-72), lying second after the third round, slipped out of contention early on the final day when he made a quadruple bogey on the second. He then fought back with six birdies against two bogeys to put up a 72 on the board and end up in third place. Dhaka lad Md Sajib Ali finished an impressive fifth despite shooting a 73 on day four.

Source: PGTI Release