Hyderabad: Bengaluru’s S. Chikkarangappa pulled off a flawless six-under-65 in the final round to emerge triumphant by two shots at PGTI’s season-opener, the Rs 40-lakh Golconda Masters Golf Championship 2019 that is backed by Telangana Tourism and Incredible India
Chikkarangappa’s career-graph has been on the upswing since November when he ended a two-year long title-drought on the PGTI. He followed that up with a runner-up finish at an Asian Tour event in Mauritius that helped him seal his card in Asia.
The 25-year-old posted another second-place finish at the PGTI’s season-ending event in December. His 12th career win achieved at the Hyderabad Golf Club (HGC) on Saturday only continues his golden run.
Patna’s Aman Raj produced the best round of seven-under-64 on the last day to finish joint runner-up at 18-under-266 along with Bengaluru’s M. Dharma (69).
Going into the final round, Chikkarangappa (65-64-70-65) was lying tied second and two off the lead but enjoyed a day as bright as his orange trousers. He had a roaring start, landing his second shots within four feet on the first and second to score birdies on both holes and take the early lead even as overnight leader Dharma dropped a bogey on the second.
He subsequently added two more birdies on the eighth and ninth, both being tap-ins. Another fruitful spell came about with birdies on the 11th and 12th where the two-time Asian Development Tour (ADT) winner knocked in his longest putts of the day from nine feet and 15 feet respectively.
Chikkarangappa then made pars all the way till the end for a clinical finish as his nearest rivals struggled to catch up. He picked up five world ranking points in the first ever PGTI event to be part of the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) system. Chikkarangappa also leads the PGTI Order of Merit with earnings of Rs 6,46,600 from the season-opener.
Chikkarangappa said, “I had an outstanding week with 28 birdies. I attribute my performance to my much-improved ball-striking. My tee shots and approach shots were terrific.”
