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November 1st 2009, Jamshedpur: Gurki Shergill withstood a stiff challenge from defending champion Shamim Khan on the final day of the 8th TATA OPEN (an Aircel PGTI event) to eventually come up trumps in the playoff and thus bag his maiden professional title.

Gurki Shergill during Round 4

Pune-based Shergill and Delhi golfer Shamim, the joint overnight leaders, carded identical scores of one under 69 in the final round to be once again tied at the top of the leaderboard with scores of 12 under 270 after the regulation 72 holes. Shergill finally came through on the first playoff hole. Gurki’s fabulous win has now catapulted him from 67th to 31st place on the Aircel PGTI Order of Merit.

Mohd Siddikur Rahman of Bangladesh finished third at eight under 274.

The final round on Sunday had the same format as the third round. The entire field played nine holes each on both the courses, Beldih as well as Golmuri. While one half of the field teed off from Beldih, the other half began its round from Golmuri. Twenty-nine golfers with the best scores at the end of round three teed off from Golmuri and finished at Beldih. The par for the combined courses was 70.

The title seemed to be slipping away from Gurki Shergill’s (64, 69, 68, 69) grasp when he dropped a bogey on the third while Shamim picked up birdies on the fifth and sixth as a result of sinking some really long putts. Shamim was ahead by two strokes at the turn since Shergill made birdie-bogey on the seventh and eighth even as Shamim himself dropped a bogey on the eighth.

Gurki then bounced back by converting two 20-footers for birdies on the 11th and 13th and erased the two-stroke difference by the 15th hole. It was all square after 15 as Shamim on his part birdied the 12th and bogeyed the 15th. The two finally headed for a playoff after both of them made pars on the last three holes.

Shergill sealed the win on the first playoff hole (18th hole) with a birdie that came as a result of a magnificent second shot (eight iron) from 146 yards that hit the flag-stick and landed one foot from the hole. Shamim found the greenside bunker during the playoff and as a consequence made bogey.

“It’s an incredible feeling to win my first ever professional title. The victory is yet to sink in. I would like to dedicate this win to my family, especially my wife, my friends, my coach Kel Llewellyn and Brigadier Randhawa (Jyoti Randhawa’s father), who have all supported me in many ways all through my professional career,” said an ecstatic Shergill.

He added, “I did not play particularly well on the front nine today, barring the seventh hole, where I just missed out on an eagle from 30 feet. I then decided to just enjoy myself and forget about the tense situation. This helped me raise my game on the back nine and from there on I drove big, made some excellent chip-putts and sank a couple of really long putts. In fact, I had almost sealed it on the 18th, where my birdie putt from 20 feet stopped just six inches short.”

Shamim, who finished runner-up for the second successive week on the Aircel PGTI, said, “Even though I finished second, I’m quite disappointed that I could not capitalize on my three-stroke advantage today. I missed a number of short putts in round four and the conversion of two 30-footers for birdies on the fifth and sixth was the only saving grace as far as my putting is concerned.”

He added, “I was leading till the 14th and did not need to do anything spectacular to win but a poor lie (third shot) and a missed chip-putt for me on the 15th turned the match in Gurki’s favour.”

Mohd Siddikur Rahman fired a two under 68 in round four to claim third place with an overall score of eight under 274. The Bangladeshi fired four birdies against two bogeys on Sunday.

Gurbaaz Mann of Chandigarh secured fourth place at seven under 275 while Delhi’s Vinod Kumar came in fifth at six under 276.

Mukesh Kumar ended the tournament in tied seventh, having posted an overall score of four under 278.

Local amateur Karan Taunk’s one under 281 total earned him a share of 14th position. Taunk won the amateur title since he finished with the best score among the amateurs.

Jamshedpur’s Navtez Singh totaled one over 283 for the week to finish in tied 19th place.


Courtesy: Nikhil Kalaan