Digboi IOC XtraPremium Masters 2007

Mukesh Kumar wins his first PGTI title at Digboi:

Nov 18: Mukesh Kumar registered his first PGTI win after putting up an impressive performance on the final day of the IOC XtraPremium Masters 2007 at the Digboi Golf Links today.

Overnight leader Rahul Ganapathy finished second, two strokes behind.

Mukesh, who trailed Ganapathy by one stroke after the third round yesterday, shot a consistent round of two-under 70 on the final day. His overall score read eight-under-par 280.

Mukesh began the final round on a steady note as he made eight pars and one birdie (7th hole) on the front nine. On the back nine, he made two more birdies on the 14th and 16th holes. His only bogey of the day came on the par four 17th hole.

This victory was his first on the PGTI and fourth at Digboi Golf Links.

Mukesh rounded off an excellent week at Digboi with scores of 69, 73, 68 and 70.

''This is my first title in almost two years and because of my victory-drought everyone felt that my game was on the decline. The win at Digboi has gone a long way in answering my critics and has also given me tremendous confidence for the rest of the season,'' said the champion.

Mukesh's performace earned him a handsome prize purse of Rs. 3,23,300.

For second placed Rahul Ganapathy, it was a case of so near yet so far. Today, he shot one-over 73 that took his total score to eight-under-par 282. Ganapathy's final round included birdies on the 3rd, 4th, 9th and 14th and bogeys on the 5th, 10th, 12th, 15th and 17th.

He missed a 2-foot putt for par on the 17th that turned out to be crucial in the end. Ganapathy had scores of 69, 72, 68, 73.

Chandigarh's Harender Gupta (71, 72, 70, 70) finished third at five-under 283 while Mohd Islam was fourth at four-under 284.

Anirban Lahiri and Kolkata's Ranjit Singh finished tied fifth with scores of one-under 287 with the latter recording the best round of the day (six-under 66).

The runners-up at the last IOC XtraPremium Masters, Shamim Khan, ended the tournament in tied ninth position with a score of two-over 290.

The other runners-up from the last edition, Vikrant Chopra finished 30th with thirteen-over 301.

Indian Oil Xtra Premium Golf at Digboi from Nov 15

Top Indian amateur golfers to vie for honours:

The Digboi Golf Course will soon be the focus of attention of the country’s golf fans as it prepares for the second event of the 2007-08 PGTI season, the Indian Oil Xtra Premium Masters 2007, scheduled to be held from November 15 to 18.

The Indian Oil Xtra Premium Masters has the potential of producing a great finish as there are a number of contenders for the title.

Defending champion and 2006-07 PGTI Order of Merit winner Ashok Kumar will be looking to repeat his last performance here. In the last edition of this event, Ashok Kumar emerged victorious by a handsome margin of six strokes as his final score read fourteen-under par 274.

The joint runners-up Vikrant Chopra and Shamim Khan finished with scores of eight-under 280.

One golfer giving everyone a run for their money would be Digvijay Singh. He is currently placed second behind Lam Chih Bing on the PGTI Order of Merit, and seems to be gaining momentum with every passing tournament.

Digvijay could present one of the toughest challenges to defending champion Ashok Kumar since he seems to have found form with a runners-up finish at the BILT Open 2007 and a tied 14th place finish on the Asian Tour’s Pertamina Indonesia President Invitational.

Another professional breathing down the defending champion’s neck would be the other runner-up at the last edition of the tournament Shamim Khan.