April 20, 2024
April 20, 2024
Ahmedabad, Sep 02: A gallant seven-under 65 in the final round saw Udayan Mane pip overnight leader Mukesh Kumar and strong contender Ajeetesh Sandhu to claim his second title of the season at the inaugural TAKE Classic in Ahmedabad on Saturday.
Bengaluru lad Udayan, who shifted his base to the Kalhaar Blues & Greens golf course here just two months back, clinched a one-stroke victory after taking his four-day total to 14-under 274 at the Rs. 50 lakh event.
Chandigarh’s Sandhu, who looked the favourite for a major part of the day, fell just short as a result of his last round of four-under 68 to finish runner-up at 13-under-275. Mukesh, who led for three days, slipped to third at 10-under-278 after shooting a last round of one-over 73.
Mane (69-68-72-65), lying overnight tied third and four shots off the lead, made a slow start on day four with his eagle and birdie on the front-nine being accompanied by two bogeys.
But the burly Mane went on a birdie spree on the back-nine, making five consecutive birdies from the 12th to the 16th thanks to a hot putter. The 26-year-old Udayan thus roared into contention as he tied Sandhu for the lead.
Mane emerged top favourite when he sank an incredible 20-feet birdie putt on the 18th to take the sole lead. With Sandhu then missing out on a birdie on the last, Udayan went on to seal his fourth title in style.
“It was an unbelievable day. I had a bad spell from the 12th hole onwards yesterday. But I was much more assured today,” said Mane, who has now moved up from seventh to second place in the PGTI Order of Merit thanks to his winning cheque of Rs. 7,50,000.
“I had a shaky start today, but things started turning around in my favour from the 12th as I kept rolling in the putts. “I wasn’t aware of the scores towards the latter part of the round. But I just played positive golf and fortunately the putts fell in. I sank everything between five feet to 25 feet on the greens today. My putting saw me home.”
Sandhu (72-69-66-68), lying overnight second, made a charge for the title with five birdies over the first 14 holes. However, a bogey on the 15th and a missed birdie opportunity on the 18th meant he had to be content with second place behind the rampaging Mane.
Mukesh, three-under through the front-nine, slipped out of contention with two bogeys and a double bogey on the back-nine. He finally closed the week in third. Kolkata rookie Viraj Madappa claimed fourth place at six-under-282.
