Yuvraj Singh Sandhu wins PGTI Players Championship

Local golfer Yuvraj Singh Sandhu continued his red-hot form with his third win in five months at the Rs. 50 lakh TATA Steel PGTI Players Championship on Friday.

Sandhu (70-67-65-69), playing at his home course, shot a resolute three-under 69 in the final round to end up with a one-stroke victory at 17-under 271. The 25-year-old, who bagged his second win of the 2022 season and a prize money cheque worth Rs. 8,08,250 to go along with it, consolidated his position in the PGTI Order of Merit despite continuing to be ranked second.

Bangladesh's Md Zamal Hossain Mollah (67-66-69-70), the joint overnight leader along with Sandhu, missed his 15 feet birdie putt by a whisker on the final hole and thus the opportunity to take the match into a playoff. Zamal's last round 70 saw him claim the runner-up position at 16-under 272.

Karandeep Kochhar, fired a spectacular 65 in round four, the day's best score, to secure third place at 15-under 273. Mollah enjoyed a slim one-stroke lead early in the day till there was a two-shot swing in favour of Sandhu on the par-3 eighth that helped the latter move into a one-shot lead.

On the back-nine, Sandhu's putter stayed hot as he continued to drain putts from a range of 10 to 15 feet to push ahead with birdies on the 11th and 12th even as Zamal's form with the driver seemed to have deserted him with no birdies in sight for the Dhaka-based golfer.

There was another twist on the 17th, this time a two-shot swing in favour of Mollah as he birdied from four feet while Sandhu found the trees and the bunker to concede a shot.

Sandhu finally saw it home after playing a quality chip to set up a tap-in for par on the 18th but not before surviving a scare from Zamal who narrowly missed a 15-feet birdie conversion on the same hole that could've taken the match into a playoff.

Kartik Sharma (72) of Gurugram finished fourth at 13-under 275.