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Rohana clinches second title of season

Sri Lankan Anura Rohana's ‘steely resolve' in Steel City Jamshedpur saw him cruise to a four-shot victory at the 16th Tata Open, a Rs. 1 crore event.

By Chitrangada
Sri Lankan Anura Rohana with his spoils.


Jamshedpur, December 17: Sri Lankan Anura Rohana's 'steely resolve' in Steel City Jamshedpur saw him cruise to a four-shot victory at the 16th Tata Open, a Rs. 1 crore event. Rohana returned a clinical final round of two-under-69 to total 19-under-265 for the week and as a result grab his second title of the season.

The quintet of Kolkata-based golfers Viraj Madappa (66) and Raju Ali Mollah (70), Gurgaon's Manu Gandas (68), Delhi's Shamim Khan (69) and Noida's Vikrant Chopra (69) finished joint runners-up at 15-under-269 at the penultimate event of the season staged at the pristine Golmuri Golf Course.

Anura Rohana (69-61-66-69), the overnight leader by three shots, marched to his fifth PGTI title after driving home the advantage on the final day with five birdies against two bogeys.

The 44-year-old Anura, who won his fifth PGTI title along with a winning cheque of Rs. 15 lakh on Sunday, never looked in any sort of trouble on day four. Despite a bogey on the first hole he kept his lead with pars on the next seven and a birdie on the ninth.

Rohana, who won on the PGTI in Pune earlier this year, went into attacking mode on the back-nine in order to build on his lead. He almost holed his approach from 45 yards for eagle on the 10th where he finally picked a tap-in birdie. A couple of quality birdie chip-putts on the 12th and 16th saw him home despite a couple of bogeys on the back-nine.

Rohana, who has now moved up from 12th to third in the PGTI Order of Merit, said, "I began the day looking for a round of four to five under and was quite aggressive on the back-nine. That did the trick for me. The birdie on the 10th was the highlight of my round as I almost holed out from 45 yards.

"I'm delighted with this win as it gives me a chance to contend for the PGTI Order of Merit title. I began the year with a top-5 finish on the money list on my mind. I've almost achieved that goal.

"I now go to the season-ending event in Kolkata with loads of confidence as my ball-striking, chipping and putting are in great shape. It's also terrific to emulate my countryman Mithun Perera who had also won the TATA open few years back."

As a result of his joint runner-up finish this week, Shamim Khan extended his lead in the PGTI Order of Merit to about Rs. 5 lakh over second placed Udayan Mane of Bengaluru. Shamim's season earnings read Rs. 46,27,983.

Story first published: Sunday, December 17, 2017, 16:37 [IST]
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