Chowrasia wins Singhania golf

Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia played inspired golf to win his maiden title on the Wills Sport Golf Tour when he won the Rs 600,000 Sir Padampat Singhania Open golf championship, which concluded at the Army Golf Club Course, Dhaulakuan, on Sunday.

The diminutive Calcuttan shot a three-under 69 on the final day to aggregate one-under 287, thus etching a victory by three strokes over the more fancied Arjun Atwal.

Atwal, also from Calcutta, shot a one-over 73 for a final tally of two-over 290. Dinesh Raghuvanshi of Pune was third at five-over 293, while Shiv Prakash and Akbar Ali were tied for the fourth place at six-over 294.

This was Chowrasia's first title as a pro in his three-year-long career. Earlier, he had created a sensation by finishing tied for the second place behind Atwal during the 1999 Wills Indian Open. Chowrasia has had four runner-up finishes on the Wills Sport Indian Golf Tour, two of which came this season. During the Tiger Sports Marketing Open, he shot 18-under for four days but was beaten by a rampant Shiv Prakash who finished 25-under. He then lost a four-way playoff to Feroz Ali a fortnight back during the Wills Western Open at Pune.

The victory was worth Rs 97,200 for Chowrasia, who turns 23 in March. Atwal had to be satisfied with a cheque of Rs 67,200, while Raghuvanshi's best finish of this season fetched him Rs 37,800.

"It just can't get better than this. I am very happy and satisfied to have finally broken through. Finishing runner-up in the Indian Open at my homecourse was a definite high, but this winning feeling is something that I would like to experience more often," said Chowrasia after the round.

"The way he played today, he deserved to win," said a magnanimous Atwal.

"His short game is immaculate and he never gave me a chance today. I am sure he will have many such titles in future," added the defending Hero Honda Masters champion.

Chowrasia started the day one stroke behind Atwal, but was two behind on the very first hole as Atwal began with a birdie. Chowrasia pulled one back with a birdie of his own on the second and then was tied for the lead with Atwal when the latter hit his tee shot out of bounds, but made a miraculous 50-footer putt with the second ball to escape with just a bogey. On the par-3 fourth, Chowrasia forged ahead when he nailed a 7-iron tee shot to the pin.

Atwal was not going to let go Chowrasia so easily. He birdied the par-5 fifth and the par-3 ninth, while Chowrasia picked up another stroke on the par-5 eighth. At the turn, both were tied for the lead at one-under after 63 holes.

On the back nine, Chowrasia produced stunning chips to save pars on the 10th and 11th, while Atwal was unfortunate to see a two-footer par putt lip out on the 11th for a bogey. Once Chowrasia was ahead, he played solid to make sure of his triumph.

"The 10th was important as my ball was lying in a depression and I had to stop the ball quickly on the green. Once that was done and Arjun bogeyed the 11th, I was confident that today could be my day," said a beaming Chowrasia later.

Thereafter, Chowrasia made a birdie on the par-5 12th and then dropped his only shot of the day on the 17th. But by that time, he could afford it, as Atwal, in an effort to put pressure on Chowrasia after bogeying the 16th, hit a driver on the tight 17th hole only to be stymied by a tree. He, too made a bogey on the 17th, leaving Chowrasia with enough room for victory on the final hole.

VIKRANT CHOPRA IS THE BEST AMATEUR: Vikrant Chopra shot his worst round of the four days - a seven-over 79 - but that was still good enough to hand him the amateur title with a four-day tally of 305. Anitya Chand was second at 307, while Amit Luthra finished third at 310.

SCORES (after 72 holes): 287 _ SSP Chowrasia (72,72,74,69); 290 _ Arjun Atwal (76,67,74,73); 293 _ Dinesh Raghuvanshi (79,70,69,75); 294 _ Shiv Prakash (75,74,73,72), Akbar Ali (76,74,70,74); 296 _ Vishal Singh (79,70,76,71); 297 _ Basad Ali (75,74,75,73), Vijay Kumar (74,75,75,73), Praduman Guleria (78,70,72,77); 298 _ Rohtas Singh (75,78,74,71); 299 _ Devendra Patel (76,74,75,74); 300 _ Shamim Khan (77,76,75,72); 301 _ Mukesh Kumar (74,77,71,79); Amateurs: 305 _ Vikrant Chopra (72,78,76,79) ; 307 _ Anitya Chand (79,76,73,79); 310 _ Amit Luthra (72,78,77,83)