Jamshedpur, December 6, 2008: Delhi's Shamim Khan won the 6th TATA Open in Jamshedpur on Saturday to bag his first title on the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI). Shamim returned a solid even par 70 in the final round of the tournament on Saturday to take home the winner's cheque of Rs. 3,23,300. He totaled 10 under 272 for the tournament, having shot 68, 66 and 68 in the previous three rounds. Mukesh Kumar and C Muniyappa finished joint runners-up at five under 277.

The final round on Saturday 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. Thirty two 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.

Shamim Khan (68, 66, 68, 70), who led the field for the last two days, finally emerged victorious with a five-stroke margin. The professional from the Delhi Golf Club came up with a consistent performance on the final day to record his third professional win.

Shamim did not get off to a great start, having missed a couple of short putts that led to consecutive bogeys on the third and fourth holes. The 30-year-old then birdied the fifth, made six consecutive pars up to the 11th and sank another birdie on the 12th to take control of the situation. He was unperturbed even as his nearest rivals C Muniyappa and Mandeo Singh Pathania slowly slipped out of contention on the back nine. Khan's birdie on the 15th sealed the win for him. The bogey on the 18th meant that he finished the tournament at 10 under.

Shamim said, "I'm delighted to win my first PGTI title. The win in Jamshedpur will not only help me grow in confidence but will also improve my prospects for climbing up the Order of Merit in the remaining events of the season."

He added, "I was a little under pressure after making bogeys on the third and fourth. However, once I made some long putts to pick up birdies on the 12th and 15th, the pressure came off. Importantly, I hit all the fairways today and my percentage of greens in regulation was also quite high."

Defending champion Mukesh Kumar (71, 74, 66, 66) fired four under 66 for the second successive day to climb from overnight tied 13th to tied second. Mukesh sank birdies on the fourth, sixth, 11th, 12th, 16th and dropped a lone bogey on the 13th.

"I was at my very best with the putter today. I made a number of difficult putts and did not make too many mistakes. It's feels great to finish tied second despite having a poor start to the tournament," said Mukesh.

C Muniyappa (73, 68, 67, 69) joined Mukesh in tied second at five under 277. Muniyappa birdied the second, third, sixth, eighth, 11th and conceded bogeys on the first, 15th, 17th and 18th.

Feroz Ali Mollah, Ajeetesh Sandhu and Shankar Das were tied for fourth place at three under 279. Harendra Gupta was a further stroke behind in seventh place.

Uttam Singh Mundy, Mohd Siddikur Rahman and Mandeo Singh Pathania shared eighth place with identical totals of one under 281.

Karan Taunk (73, 74, 71, 66) of Jamshedpur won the amateur title as he finished with the best amateur total of two over 284. Taunk was tied 14th in the overall standings.

Harmeet Kahlon's overall score of three over 285 helped him end the tournament in tied 19th place.