Harpal Singh Bedi / Noida
Chandigarh-based Yuvraj Sandhu piped Delhi’s Wasim Khan in a nail-biting playoff to win the TATA Steel PGTI Feeder Tour at Jaypee Greens Wish Town in Noida on Thursday.
This was Twenty-two-year-old Yuvraj’s second win of the 2019 TATA Steel PGTI Feeder Tour season and it enabled him to extend his lead in the Order of Merit with just one more event remaining in the season.
Yuvraj (62-63-60) matched the tournament’s best score of seven-under-60 in the third round to end up with a total of 16-under-185 in regulation play.
He prevailed over Wasim Khan (62-61-62) in a fascinating playoff that was decided on the third extra hole. Wasim, who also totaled 16-under-185 for the week, got into the playoff with an unbelievable eagle-birdie finish on the last two holes of regulation play for a round of five-under-62.
There was a three-way tie for third place at 14-under-187 between Delhi’s Manav Jaini (63), Gurugram’s Abhishek Kuhar (63) and Noida’s Gaurav Pratap Singh (64) at the Rs. 8 lakh event.
Yuvraj lying fifth and two off the lead after the second round, didn’t really get off to an explosive start in round three as he sank a couple of birdies on the front-nine but also missed a few opportunities on the greens.
The winner , who had earlier won the season’s third Feeder Tour event in Karnal, began his title charge with consecutive birdies on the 11th, 12th and 13th. He tapped-in on the 11th thanks to a good wedge shot, produced a brilliant 2-iron tee shot on the par-3 12th to set up a six-footer and then chipped-in on the 13th.
Another good tee shot on the par-3 16th followed by a fabulous bunker shot on the 17th earned him two more birdies before he closed the round with a tricky par-save on the 18th.
Wasim , the joint round two leader, emerged as a strong contender on the final day after he was three-under through the first 11 holes. However, he found the water on the 13th and dropped a stroke. Wasim then staged a remarkable comeback to take the match into a playoff as he sank a 12-feet eagle putt on the 17th and followed that up with a monster 30-feet birdie putt on the 18th.
In the playoff held on the par-4 18th hole, the deadlock continued on the first two holes. Finally, victory came Yuvraj’s way on the third playoff hole where he played an outstanding bunker shot to save par while Wasim stumbled with a poor second shot from the centre of the fairway that found the water hazard and dashed his title hopes.
“I stuck to my pre-shot routine and my yardage book through the week. I got it going on the back-nine today with those three successive birdies. I played my shot of the day on the 12th, my 2-iron tee shot which ended up six feet from the hole. I’m also very proud of my bunker shot on the third playoff hole that proved to be decisive today. It was a very tough shot with the trees in front and the water hazard in play. I struck it perfectly.”the winner said
“I enjoyed this course a lot as it is quite different from all the other courses that I’ve played as a professional. It is a short, tricky course and is a good test of wedge-play,” said Yuvraj who received the winning cheque of Rs. 1,01,720.
Yuvraj has now taken his season’s earnings to Rs. 2,82,480 thus stretching his lead in the Feeder Tour Order of Merit to almost Rs. 1 lakh over second-placed Anil Bajrang Mane of Mumbai who has season’s earnings of Rs. 1,82,515.
The sixth and last event of the season remains to be played in Lucknow in the first week of October. The 2019 Feeder Tour Order of Merit champion will get an exemption for the PGTI main tour next year.