Australia's Kunal Bhasin finishes three strokes behind Muniyappa to grab second place
PHOTO GALLERY Courtesy: PGTI
Eagleton, Bangalore, November 8, 2008: C Muniyappa capped his first professional win when he turned in a six under 66 in the final round of the Toyota Altis Open presented by Eagleton at the Eagleton Golf Course on Saturday. The Bangalore-based golfer totaled 19 under 269 for the tournament to record his first win since turning professional in 1996. Australia's Kunal Bhasin finished three strokes behind Muniyappa to grab second place. Anirban Lahiri, the joint leader after round three slipped to third place on the final day as his overall score read 15 under 273.
C Muniyappa (67, 66, 70, 66) climbed from 11th to 10th on the PGTI Order of Merit after taking home the winner's purse of Rs. 3,23,300. Muniyappa, thus ended his title drought as his previous best performance on the PGTI was tied second at Pune in September this year. The 31-year-old finally broke his title jinx with a superb six under 66 in round four of the Toyota Altis Open presented by Eagleton.
He made a solid start when he birdied the first. However, a setback followed on the fourth, where he dropped a bogey. There was no looking back from there on as Muniyappa sank a birdie on the fifth, eagle on the seventh and two successive birdies on the ninth and 10th. A poor second shot on the 11th led to his second bogey of the day. Thereafter, two more birdies on the 15th and 17th rounded off a brilliant day for the local hero.
"It's been one of the most memorable days of my golfing career so far. My experience helped me come through today as I learnt from my past mistakes and did not give away my lead on the final day. This win will hopefully help me raise the level of my game further," said Muniyappa.
He described his final round, saying, "My best moments in the final round included the eagle on the seventh and birdies on the ninth and 15th. The six iron approach shot carried the trees and landed 30 feet short of the pin from where I sank the eagle putt. This was followed by an excellent lob wedge approach shot on the ninth that was just one foot short of the hole. But my best shot of the tournament came on the 15th. This was my third shot on that hole and I hit the lob wedge over the trees as the ball once again landed just one foot short of the pin. I also sank an incredible 30 feet birdie putt on the fifth."
Kunal Bhasin (71, 65, 69, 67) registered his best finish on the PGTI when he finished runner-up to Muniyappa on Saturday. Bhasin's total moved to 16 under 272 after he fired five under 67 in the final round. The professional from Brisbane, Australia, was all set to give Muniyappa a run for his money as he made a steady climb on the leaderboard till the 10th hole, having birdied the first, fourth, seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th. But a bogey on the 12th slowed him down. Thereafter, he could only manage a birdie on the 15th. The bogey on the 16th put him out of contention.
Bhasin, who climbed from 62nd to 44th on the PGTI Order of Merit after his second-place finish, said, "I had a good start today, having been six under after 10 holes but then a couple of mistakes stopped the momentum for me. The putts also did not fall in from there on. In fact, the bogeys on the 12th and 16th were a result of three-putts on those two holes. However, I am quite pleased with my effort because this is my best finish on the PGTI so far."
Anirban Lahiri (65, 70, 68, 70) came in third with a total of 15 under 273. In round four, Lahiri birdied the first, sixth, 11th, 14th, 18th and bogeyed the second, ninth and 12th.
Mukesh Kumar (68, 67, 70, 69) continues to the lead the PGTI Order of Merit after finishing fourth with a tournament total of 14 under 274.
Himmat Singh Rai (72, 66, 70, 68) and Harmeet Kahlon (71, 64, 72, 69) both ended the tournament in tied fifth as they totaled 12 under 276.
S Chikkarangappa (71, 68, 66, 74) of Eagleton won the amateur title. He finished 10th and his total read nine under 279.
Gaganjeet Bhullar finished tied 17th at five under 283 while Mysore's Rahul Ganapathy was placed tied 23rd at four under 284.
Harendra Gupta was 30th at one under 287 and Digvijay Singh was one shot behind Gupta in tied 31st place.
