Internet Desk: Mukesh Kumar’s long-cherished dream finally came true at the Panasonic Open India 2016 as he added an international victory to his already impressive trophy cabinet worth over 120 titles.
The seasoned campaigner Mukesh, registered a spectacular one-shot win at a total of 10-under-206 at the Delhi Golf Club (DGC) after a posting a two-under-70 in the third and final round of the US$ 400,000 Asian Tour event on Sunday. Mukesh, who hails from Mhow in Madhya Pradesh, thus became the oldest winner on the Asian Tour at the age of 51.
It was a profitable week for the Indians as Jyoti Randhawa and Rashid Khan were joint runners-up at nine-under-207 even as a total of nine Indians finished inside the top-10. Sri Lankan Mithun Perera (also a PGTI member) was the only foreigner in the top-10. He claimed fourth place at eight-under-208 at the event reduced to 54 holes and three rounds due to fog delays.
Mukesh Kumar (67-69-70), the overnight leader by two strokes, delivered the knock-out punch on Sunday with a 70 to end up as the wire-to-wire champion at the sixth edition of the Panasonic Open India.
Mukesh had a slow start with a bogey on the third where he missed a short putt. However, subsequent birdies on the seventh and eighth and an excellent par-save from the bunker on the ninth helped him regain his confidence.
But it was the crucial 20-feet birdie conversion on the 15th that swung the match decisively in his favour. He finally made pars on the last three holes to become the fifth Indian in six years to inscribe his name on the Panasonic Open India trophy.
As a result, Mukesh not only became the 22nd Indian to win an international title but also bagged the fifth title for India in the current Asian Tour season which has witnessed Gaganjeet Bhullar and SSP Chawrasia already notch up two wins each.
Mukesh said, “I am very proud of myself. I have waited 32 years (since turning professional) for this. This means a lot to me. It is my first international win. It is different from the 123 wins that I have had on the domestic Tour earlier. This is a superb achievement for me. I have been wanting to achieve this.
“The 20-footer that I made for birdie on 15 was the decisive putt for me. I knew I had a good chance after sinking that putt. I told myself I just need to par the last three holes. Even though I know Jyoti was just one shot back and he has a good chance on 18 being a long-hitter, I didn’t think too much about that. I just focused on what I need to do.
“Whenever I lead on the local Tour, it’s not easy for me to lose it. But it feels very different today because I know there are many good players out here. I am very glad that I managed to stay in the moment and get the job done.
“I will play on the Asian Tour next year now that I have won my card. However, I would have to give the Hong Kong Open next week a miss as I won’t be able to get my passport renewed in time. I didn’t expect to win,” added Mukesh who has now earned an Asian Tour card for the next two years as well as an invite for the Panasonic Open in Japan in 2017.
Incidentally, both Jyoti Randhawa and Rashid Khan shot identical scores of 67, 72 and 68 in the three rounds to claim the joint runners-up position at nine-under-207.
Jyoti posed a major threat to Mukesh in the latter stages with birdies on 14 and 15 but his lip out on the 16th meant he couldn’t catch up with Mukesh till the end.
Randhawa said, “I am very happy for Mukesh. He played well for his first Asian Tour victory so hats off to him. It’s great for him because it’s his first international win after so many years of playing on the local Tour.
“I did my best today. Maybe just one shot was bad but this is golf for you. As long as you do your best, it’s alright. I needed to birdie the 18. I wanted to make sure I made a birdie there so I took a two-iron. The tee shot was off but I had a great save for par there.
“It has been a great week for me. My game has been improving. I am happy to finish well at the Delhi Golf Club again. There is surely a lot of positives to take from this week and it will set me up nicely for the season finale in Hong Kong next week. I am confident that my win will come soon if I can keep up my good form.”
Rashid raised his hopes with three birdies on the last five holes but finally fell just short of Mukesh’s tally.
Rashid said, “I started very well today, except on the fourth where I hit it to the right and took a drop in the bunker. But I made a really good bogey there. I gave myself a few more chances after that but unfortunately I wasn’t able to take advantage of them. It was only until 14 that I started to make birdies again. That gave me a lot of confidence and I went on to birdie 15 and 18.
“I had to play aggressively. I had to give it a try. I missed a short putt for birdie on 16 which was disappointing but overall, it was good. I am happy to finish well this week. I tried my best.”
While there were nine Indians in the top-10, it was also a ‘10 out of 10’ for the PGTI as PGTI member Mithun Perera of Sri Lanka finished fourth at eight-under-208.
Honey Baisoya was fifth at seven-under-209 while Shankar Das was a further shot behind in sixth.
The four Indians bunched in seventh place at five-under-211 were, Shamim Khan, Sanjeev Kumar, Kapil Kumar and Khalin Joshi.
Last year’s champion Chiragh Kumar took a share of 15th place at three-under-213.