Feroz braves Arjun assault
to win Hero Honda Open

Feroz Ali became only the second golfer on the Hero Honda Golf Tour to win an event three years in a row when he sailed to a comfortable win at the Rs One million Hero Honda Golf Open -- Pune 2002, played at the par-71, Poona Club Golf (Ltd.).

Feroz’s tournament tally stood at two-under 282. He joins Amritinder Singh in the record books. The Chandigarh-based Amritinder holds the distinction of successfully defending his title twice in succession at the Hero Golf Chandigarh Open, Chandigarh.

Amritinder’s wins came in 1998-99, 1999-2000 & 2000-01.

Despite making a scintillating charge in his final three holes, Delhi’s Arjun Singh fell a tantalizing one stroke short of Feroz’s tally.

Joining Arjun at tied-second spot and a tally of one-under 283 was Kolkata’s SSP Chowrasia.

Chandigarh’s Harmeet Kahlon finished fourth at one-over 285, while the duo of Digvijay Singh (Meerut) and Ali Sher (Delhi) finished tied for the fifth position at two-over 286.

Jaiveer Virk (Delhi) played to 78 to finish 14th. Overnight third placed Balbir Verma watched helplessly as his game fell apart handing him a final round score of 11-over 82 which saw him slip to tied-20th.

The prizes were jointly given away by Deepak Mokashi (Zonal Head, Hero Honda Motors), Mr. Sanjay Bhan (Depty. Zonal Head – Hero Honda Motors) and Mr Munot, Chairman – Golf Sub Committee, Poona Club Golf (Ltd).

The Hero Honda Open -- Poona belongs to Feroz Ali. So for that matter does the Poona Club Golf Course. The Kolkatan has enjoyed some of his best moments on this course. It was here two years ago that he broke a year-long dry spell with a win at the Wills Western Open 2000. The following year, he earned the proud distinction of becoming the first winner in the new millennium courtesy his title defense at the Wills Western Open, 2001. And now, he has made the best possible start to the new year.

"I am thrilled. This course is definitely my favourite," said the grinning Kolkatan. "At a moment like this I would like to thank two friends back home, Manish Periwal and Srikanta Saha who supported me all the way when the chips were down. I dedicate this win to them," he added.

"There was no pressure on me whatsoever today. In fact I was relaxed enough to get careless especially in my back nine."

Feroz finished his round with a missed one-feet par putt. Earlier, the ’98 Indian Open winner started his round with a par-bogey-bogey sequence.

"I missed a four footer on the 2nd and then three-putted the third," he said.

This did not bother him much and he went on to birdie the 6th before dropping a shot on his closing hole.

"I had no clue about Arjun Singh’s charge. All along I felt there was not much competition. Had I known Arjun was catching up, I might have tightened my game up a bit," said the winner who took home a cheque of Rs 1,62,000 for his effort.

Arjun Singh was commonly acknowledged as the biggest threat to Feroz’s title aspirations. He nearly upset the apple-cart for the Kolkatan, with a brilliant charge on his final three holes.

"When I was sitting on the eagle putt on the 18th and Feroz was lying in a slightly awkward position off the green, I felt I had a chance. If he had double-bogeyed that hole, we would have had a play-off but credit to him, that he held his nerve," said Arjun.

"I am very happy with the way I played today. On the 16th, I was three-over and lying for probably the sixth position. From there, to make is to a runner-up finish is definitely pleasing," said the golfer who has victories at the Hero Golf Chandigarh Open and the Honda-Siel PGA Golf Championship to his credit this season.

Arjun’s day’s card included a double bogey on the 11th, a bogey on the 15th, birdies on the 6th, 14th, 16th and 17th culmination with the eagle on the 18th. He played to three-under 68 today.

Chowrasia was a disappointed man.

“I have too many runner-up finishes to my credit and getting so close yet missing out can be really depressing,” he said.

The diminutive Kolkatan, sponsored by Sarda Plywood, birdied the 7th, 9th and 18th and dropped shots on the 3rd, 5th, 11th and 15th in his day’s score of one-over 72.

“I have to work on my driving as that is what has denied me a win this week. Had anybody else putted like I did he would have won but I hit the ball all over the place,” concluded the golfer who took home, Rs 87, 500 a sum identical to Arjun’s.

Kanitkar wins amateur title: Aditya Kanitkar surged to a comfortable two-stroke win over Rajiv Datar in the amateur category. Kanitkar, after bringing in a final round card of nine-over 80, tallied 19-over 284. Datar finished second at a tally of 305 while the leader in the opening two rounds, Sachin Nigade was placed third at 307.

SCORES (after 72 holes): 282_Feroz Ail(70,67,71,74); 283_Arjun Singh(72,70,73,68), Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia(71,68,72,72); 285_Harmeet Kahlon(73,72,69,71); 286_Digvijay Singh(70,74,73,69), Ali Sher(69,72,73,72); 287_Vijay Kumar(70,73,71,73); 289_Uttam Mundy(73,76,68,72), Sanjay Kumar(71,70,74,74); 290_Chini Ali(73,73,74,70); 291_Shiv Prakash(73,71,78,69), Amish Jaitha(75,71,73,72),Rohtas Singh(72,74,70,75); 292_Jaiveer Virk(72,65,77,78).

Amateurs: 303_Aditya Kanitkar(76,71,76,80), 305_Rajiv Datar(74,73,82,76); 307_Sachin Nigade(72,73,79,83)