Rohtas wins TNGF Open

Rohtas Singh, the silver-haired charismatic veteran, produced a vintage display of a five-under 67 on the final day to win the Rs 750,000 Tamil Nadu Golf Federation Open 2000 title on Friday.

At the par-72, Cosmopolitan Golf Club course, Rohtas aggregated 10-under 278 for four rounds, which was four strokes better than two other veterans who took the tied second place -- Basad Ali and Shiv Prakash.

Jaipur's Vishal Singh was fourth at five-under 283, while Calcutta's Rafiq Ali finished fifth at two-under 286. The victory was worth Rs 1,21,500 for the Delhi-based Rohtas. Basad and Shiv Prakash took home Rs 65,625 each, while Vishal Singh was richer by Rs 38,250.

Star cricketer Rahul Dravid distributed the prizes in a function held after the event.

Rohtas, who is sponsored by Sumi Mothersons, has displayed insatiable hunger on the Tour. Last season, he had won twice -- the Servo Masters and the Surya Nepal Masters. In the 26th year of his career as a pro, the 45-year-old golfer was in stunning form on Friday. After parring the first five holes, he made his first birdie on the sixth hole and was almost unstoppable after that. He immediately followed it up with a birdie on the seventh and another on the ninth to make the turn at three-under.

"That was a good score after nine holes, but both Shiv and Basad were too close for comfort," said Rohtas, lovingly known as 'Guruji' on the Wills Sport Golf Tour.

On the back nine, he made further birdies on the 13th and 15th holes. However, a double bogey by Basad on the 18th hole sealed the fate of the tournament.

"It feels great to win another title. I had said after the first day that I want to win this title for my sponsors Sumi Mothersons, who have had immense faith on me. This is my Christmas gift to them," he added.

Basad Ali, who can well be called the most consistent golfer on the Wills Sport Golf Tour, was a victim of sheer bad luck. A bogey would have given him a lone runner-up spot, but his tee shot hit a tree and went into the water hazard for a double bogey and he had to share the second place with Shiv Prakash. Apart from that one blemish, Basad played a solid round and made birdies on the first, seventh, eighth and 12th holes. The birdie on the first was almost supernatural as he looked like making a bogey at best when his ball hit the tree and lodged itself near the water hazard. He somehow chipped to the front edge of the green and the chipped-in from 20 yards.

"All I can say was that luck was not on my side today," said the 44-year-old.

Shiv Prakash was pretty much out of sorts today. A birdie on his very second hole of the day looked to be a good omen and despite a bogey on the fifth, he made an eagle on the seventh followed by a birdie on the ninth to be well placed at three-under at the turn. However, a disastrous back nine saw him making a plethora of bogies - on the 14th, 15th and 17th - and that was enough to deny him his third victory of the season.

"I don't want to say anything. It was just a bad day," said the current Order of Merit leader after carding a level-par 72 today.

Vishal Singh started the day with two birdies but bogies on the following two holes undid the good work. Birdies on the 9th, 13th and 16th and dropped shots on the final two holes of his return journey placed him at one-under 71 for the day.

Gurunath wins amateur title: B Gurunath returned a two-under 70 card and the second successive sub-par score was enough to hand him a comfortable win in the amateur's category. The local golfer's final day round was studded with five birdies and three bogeys. Gurunath tallied two-over 290 for the event. At the second spot was CV Yudhvir with a tally of 308.

SCORES (after 72 holes): 278 _ Rohtas Singh (68,73,70,67); 282 _ Basad Ali(72,72,68,70), Shiv Prakash(71,68,71,72); 283 _ Vishal Singh (71,72,69,71); 286 _ Rafiq Ali (70,68,74,74); 288 _ Feroz Ali (74,71,73,70), Dinesh Raghuvanshi (72,73,72,71), Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia(69,74,73,72), Sanjay Kumar(74,69,71,74); 289 _ Mukesh Kumar (72,72,73,72), Harmeet Kahlon (71,71,73,74); Amateurs: 290 _ B Gurunath (79,73,68,70); 308 _ CV Yudhvir (77,77,81,73)