ROUND 1
ROUND 2
ROUND 3
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New Delhi, May 16, 2009: Mukesh Kumar defeated Vijay Kumar in a playoff to win the DDA Open Golf Championship at the Qutab Golf Course on Saturday. Mukesh and Vijay headed into a playoff as they finished with identical scores of 12 under 268 after the regulation 72 holes. Mukesh, thereafter birdied the first playoff hole to bag his sixth title on the Aircel PGTI.

Mukesh Kumar

The 43-year-old from Mhow has now climbed to the number one spot on the 2009 Aircel PGTI Order of Merit as he took home the winner’s cheque worth Rs. 3,23,300. This was also Mukesh’s second win of the season. Ashok Kumar finished third at 11 under 269.

Mukesh Kumar (69, 67, 65, 67), who was tied third after round three, produced a solid three under 67 on the final day to set up a showdown with Vijay Kumar in the playoff. Mukesh putted better than the previous three rounds to stay in the hunt for the title till the very end.

Mukesh, the 2007-08 PGTI Order of Merit winner had an eventful front nine. He bogeyed the third and then made a tricky seven feet putt for birdie on the fourth. Mukesh then accumulated two more birdies on the fifth and eighth, hitting it within two feet of the pin on both occasions. On the back nine, Mukesh made eight pars and had a solitary birdie on the 12th.

Once Vijay bogeyed the final hole, Mukesh and Vijay headed into a sudden-death playoff to decide the winner. On the first playoff hole, Mukesh hit his four iron tee shot to the centre of the fairway and followed that up with an excellent eight iron approach shot that came up just 10 feet short of the flag. Even as Vijay missed a 20 feet putt for birdie, Mukesh sank the 10-footer for birdie to seal his victory.

Mukesh said, “It’s been a very satisfying win for me. Today I snatched a win from the jaws of defeat. My excellent putting was the highlight of my final round. I had 26 putts in all during round four. I stuck to my strategy of playing safe on the final day as pin positions are always tougher towards the end of a tournament. I also knew I would be more comfortable playing in the second group rather than the leader group and that’s exactly what happened. The pressure wasn’t there playing in the second group.”

He added, “I felt I was in sight of victory when Vijay bogeyed the 14th. However, missing birdie from the edge of the green on the 16th was a big setback for me. But I was very confident while heading into the playoff because I have had a very good record in playoffs. I think working on my follow-through also helped me improve my hitting this week.”

Mukesh, with his sixth win on the Aircel PGTI, has now equaled Ashok Kumar’s record of maximum wins on the tour.

Vijay Kumar’s (64, 68, 67, 69) one under 69 in the final round featured birdies on the fourth, ninth, 10th, 17th and bogeys on the second, 14th and 18th. He led for most part of the day but bogeys on the 14th and 18th turned out to be the spoilers for him. On the 18th hole, Vijay missed a crucial four feet par putt for victory. Earlier on the 18th he had recovered well from the bunker on his third shot.

Vijay said, “My putting was very poor today as I missed some very short putts. I thought I could pull it off even when the match went into a playoff. But Mukesh played some outstanding golf to deny me my first win on the Aircel PGTI. His approach shot on the playoff hole turned it in his favour.”

Ashok Kumar’s (65, 69, 66, 69) one under 69 on Saturday helped him finish third at 11 under 269. Digvijay Singh and R Murthy were a further stroke behind in tied fourth. Vinod Kumar and Amardip Sinh Malik shared sixth position at eight under 272.

Vikram Rana of Delhi won the amateur title after finishing with an overall score of one under 279.

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