Mukesh Kumar triumphs

Mukesh Kumar became the fifth different winner in as many tournaments on the 2001-02 season’s Hero Honda Golf Tour when he sailed to a seven-stroke win, with a tally of 15-under 273, in the Rs One million TNGF Open, played at the par-72, 6,654-yard Cosmo-TNGF golf course on Saturday.

Mukesh, aided by a final round score of four-under 68, took home the winner’s cheque of Rs 1,62,000.

Sanjay Kumar of Lucknow had to settle for second spot at eight-under 280, while Calcutta's Feroz Ali, despite launching a ferocious assault at the start, slipped gradually, ending the day with a triple bogey that handed him a tied-third finish along with Kanpur’s Shiv Prakash. The duo’s tally stood at six-under 282. Meerut’s Digvijay Singh was placed fifth at five-under 283 while Gaurav Ghei (Delhi) and SSP Chowrasia (Calcutta) were tied-sixth at four-under 284.

Defending champion, Rohtas Singh (Delhi) finished tied-17th (288) despite a final round 70. City-mate Zai Kipgen, winner of last week’s Hyundai-MGC Open was tied-21st at 290.

"This is just the beginning. You will see some real fireworks from me this season." Mukesh Kumar means business. "The last few weeks had seen me miss out after sniffing victory but this time round I was determined not to let go."

After a record-breaking opening round 63, there was no question of a player of Mukesh’s caliber letting go.

"I began the day thinking I would play it safe but Feroz’s excellent start made me go on the aggressive."

Indeed Feroz Ali was five under after as many holes and this is when Mukesh changed his strategy.

"I knew I had to birdie the 6th and 7th to normalize things."

This he did and with a birdie already under is belt on the second despite a bogey on the eighth, he was well set to consolidate his position on the back-nine. Three more birdies on the 10th, 15th and 16th and his second bogey of the day on the 14th were the highlights of his return journey card.

"I am really happy today," said the 31-year old. "This course is perfect for pro-golf. I think other people should come and take a look at these greens. These are the best greens I have played on in my career," he said.

Sanjay Kumar looked resigned to his fate.

"I eagled the second hole and thought at that stage that I would be able to chase Mukesh's tally successfully. But after the bogey on the third, I somehow lost confidence," he said.

Sanjay's other bogeys came on the 5th, 9th, 14th and 17th with his only birdie of the day coming on the 7th. By the time he sank his second eagle on the 16th he was well out of the race.

"I have to develop the temperament to convert wins which I feel I lack right now," he said.

Sanjay didn’t do too badly, pocketing Rs 1,12,000 after carding a level-par 72 on Saturday.

Feroz Ali was outstanding. Indeed he had the otherwise unflappable Mukesh breaking into a cold sweat with a birdie-eagle-birdie-par-birdie start to his round.

"Just when I thought I would walk all over Mukesh my feel on the putting greens deserted me," he said.

So sudden was the loss of feel that the '98 Indian Open winner could manage only one more birdie on the 11th, with bogeys on the 7th, 14th and 17th pushing him to what looked like a clear second place finish. But that was not the end of his woes. An out-of-bounds tee shot on the final hole saw him drop three shots on the hole to relinquish the second place to Sanjay Kumar.

"I am shocked. That is all I can say," said the dejected 32-year old who, like Sanjay posted a level-par 72 on Saturday.

Shiv Prakash continued his love affair with the Hero Honda Golf Tour, returning his fifth straight top-five finish in as many starts.

"I was in the middle of a severe bout of flu when the tournament started," he said.

he condition was further complicated when a Bunty Randhwawa approach shot caught his square in the head during a practice round a day prior to the tournament.

"I needed three stitches," he said. "It was tough playing under such conditions but I was determined to win. I guess things don’t go your way all the time," he sighed. Shiv's final round card of five-under 67 included as many as eight birdies, these coming on the 1st, 2nd, 7th, 9th, 11th, 13th, 14th and 17th. He dropped shots on the 8th,15th and 18th. The stocky golfer earned Rs 57,000 an amount identical to Feroz’s.

Yudhvir ends Meiyappan’s homneymoon with amateur titles: C V Yudhvir brought to an end newly-wed Gurunath Meiyappan’s two match amateur title winning streak with a final round 73. Yuduvir’s winning tally of 297 was one less than Meiyappan’s 298.

SCORES (after 72 holes): 273_Mukesh Kumar(63,72,70,68); 280_Sanjay Kumar(66,71,71,72); 282_Shiv Prakash(71,71,73,67), Feroz Ali(70,70,70,72), Digvijay Singh(69,70,71,73); 284_Gaurav Ghei(69,73,71,71), SSP Chowrasia(67,71,73,73); 285_Ajay Gupta(69,71,75,70), Rafiq Ali(69,68,78,70), Uttam Mundy(72,70,71,72); 286_Ali Sher(68,73,75,70), Magan Subbarao(73,68,72,73).

Amateurs: 297_CV Yudhvir(75,76,73,73); 298_Gurunath Meiyappan(75,72,77,74)