Kochhar pips Ganapathy, Pukhraj for maiden IGPL win

Dubai, Dec 11 (IANS/WISHAVWARTA):- Karandeep Kochhar finally secured his first title on the IGPL Tour with a hard-fought win at the IGPL Invitational UAE hosted by Shiv Kapur.

Kochhar edged out young Veer Ganapathy and Pukhraj Singh at the Els Club in Dubai during the tenth IGPL event of the inaugural season.

Kochhar, a recent winner on the Asian Development Tour, made amends for his runner-up finish at the IGPL Invitational Kolkata, while Ganapathy’s wait for a first professional win continued as he was left knocking on the doors yet again.

Kochhar shot a third consecutive 3-under 69 to total 9-under, while Ganapathy, who was seemingly cruising to a fine win, was left lamenting a costly triple bogey on the Par-4 14th hole on the back nine. He scored an even par 72 and finished one shot behind Kochhar.

Also finishing tied second was Pukhraj, the winner of IGPL Jamshedpur. He shot 2-under 70 and, like Ganapathy, was left at 8-under and one behind the winner.

Pranavi Urs, the history-maker at IGPL Mumbai, where she beat Kochhar to second place, was sole fourth. She shot a 1-under 71 and totalled 7-under for the 54 holes. Pranavi became the first woman winner on the IGPL and the first woman to win a pro event while playing against men.

Gaganjeet Bhullar’s winning streak ended with a fifth-place finish after a round of 71 and a total of 6-under. His previous rounds were 67-72. Bhullar had previously won every time he teed off in his last three IGPL events starts.

Tournament host Shiv Kapur (72) was tied for 16th place with Ridhima Dilawari (75) at 1-under total, while Jeev Milkha Singh, who flew in straight from Mauritius where he was the runner-up on the European Legends Tour, shot 73 and finished tied-18th in his first appearance on the IGPL Tour.

Another teenage star, Kartik Singh (71), legend SSP Chawrasia (72), and another young rookie pro, Raghav Chugh (72), are tied for sixth place, and all of them are still waiting for their first win on the IGPL Tour, which now has one more event to go in Colombo.

The IGPL Order of Merit leader, Aman Raj (73), was tied with Hitaashee Bakshi, who again demonstrated final round heroics with a 6-under 66, and Mysuru golfer Yashas Chandra, who has been performing well. Chandra shot 71, finishing tied at 4-under with Aman Raj and Hitaashee.

Four players, Sachin Baisoya (67), Harendra Gupta (68), Kartik Sharna (70), and Gaurav Ghei (72), tied for 12th place.

Gill, Kochhar, and Urs were second behind Ganapathy after the second round. With a two-shot lead, Ganapathy appeared poised for victory, but it ultimately slipped away from him on the back nine.

Kochhar, who started the final round two shots behind the 36-hole leader, Ganapathy, played steadily. With three birdies in the first eight holes, he kept applying pressure on the young Bengaluru player.

Kochhar dropped a bogey on the ninth, but again scored birdies on the 13th and 14th. He dropped a bogey on the 15th, but there were no further errors as he finished with three closing pars.

Ganapathy’s run to victory took a significant blow on the 14th, where he triple bogeyed and dropped from 11-under to 8-under. Kochhar interestingly birdied the 14th, creating a 4-shot swing that altered the equations.

Ganapathy earlier had a shaky start with a double bogey, but two birdies and an eagle on the Par-5 fifth hole, followed by a birdie on the eighth, got him back in the lead. On the back nine, his only mistake was a triple bogey on the 14th, which ended his hopes, while Kochhar made no major mistakes.

Pranavi had an action-packed final round with six birdies, two on the front nine and four on the back nine. However, she also recorded four bogeys on the front nine and one on the back nine, resulting in an overall score of 71.

—