The Par 71 Royal Colombo Golf Club hosted the Sri Lankan Open Golf Championship for the first time since 2017. In the absence of the PGTI, the 15 competing Indians occupied 7 of the top 10 spots. Samarth Dwivedi, 30, who calls Ahmedabad's Kalhaar Blues & Greens his home course, won with a score of 72-61-69-69 (a total of 13-under 271), capturing the top spot.

Samarth Dwivedi 

He had competed in the PGTI after turning professional eight years ago. Samarth is now placed 34th in the most recent PGTI rankings and competes in Thailand Pro-tournaments outside of the PGTI season.

Samarth said “After eight years of hard work, injuries, training and playing with passion and love for Golf finally brought victory in the Dialog Sri Lanka Open 2023. I have come close many times, I have shot 9 under 3 times but I was able to shoot 10 under and capture my first win in a Pro - Tournament for the first time and I believe it will be the first of many more in the future”.

Samarth is also a licensed personal trainer who has worked with renowned Indian golfers including Arjun Prasad, Aman Raj of Patna, and Olympian Udayan Mane. 

In a tie for second place at 11-under 273 with Om Prakash Chouhan, who recently won the US$300,000 European Challenge Tour event in Bangalore with a score of 69-65-71-68, was Jamal Hossain of Bangladesh, a PGTI champion this season.

Om Prakash Chauhan 

Prior to Udayan Mane, Saptak Talvar, Rashid Khan, Mithun Perera, and M. Dharma of India, Anura Rohana, the seven-time winner of the Sri Lanka Open, played a 3-under 68 to take fourth position.

Other Indians who made the top 10 were: 

4th – Udayan Mane 67-72-69-69   7-under 277

5th – SaptakTalwar  70-69-69-71   5-under 279

6th – Rashid Khan   72-70-65-73   4-under 280.

7th-   M. Dharma –  71-69-72-70    2 under 282

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