Colombo: Indian rookie Angad Cheema recorded his second professional win and maiden title on the PGTI after he triumphed at the Dialog Enterprise International played at the Royal Colombo Golf Club in Sri Lanka. Cheema fired a score of 14 in the final round to take his total to 66 points for the week. Sri Lankan N Thangaraja finished two points behind the winner to claim the runner-up spot.
The scoring format for the tournament was Modified Stableford. As per this format, Par = 0 points, One over = -1 point, Double bogey and worse = -3 points, No score returned = -3 points, One under = 3 points, Two under = 5 points, Three under = 8 points.
The 23-year-old Angad Cheema, who had also won on the PGTI Feeder Tour earlier this year, led from round one to the end, having shot scores of 24, 10, 18 and 14. Angad made an eagle, four birdies and three bogeys in the final round to claim his second professional title and climb from fifth to third position on the Rolex Rankings.
Cheema said, "My father advised me to go out and play good golf and not worry about the format and scoring before the start of this tournament. His advice helped me a great deal. This win means a lot to me and has given me immense satisfaction and confidence going forward. My hitting and putting was excellent throughout the tournament.
“I had a slow start as I made a few bogeys in the initial stages. However, I did well to comeback with an eagle and four birdies thereafter. It’s been a great rookie season for me so far as I’ve had three other top-5 finishes on the PGTI and another top-10 besides a victory on the PGTI Feeder Tour. I learnt a lot from my experiences during the season which helped me break the victory barrier here,” added the Chandigarh-based Cheema.
Local lad N Thangaraja (16-13-17-18) secured second place at his home course. Thangaraja fired a score of 18 in the final round to take his total to 64 for the week. He made seven birdies against three bogeys on Sunday.
Thangaraja said, “I’m very happy and satisfied with my game. My performance this week has given me loads of confidence. It was great to get support from my home crowd. I’m glad I could give them something to cheer about in the final round despite finishing second.”
Thangaraja’s compatriot K Prabagaran finished third with a tally of 61 points.
Indians Ranjit Singh and Vinod Kumar claimed fourth and fifth place with 56 and 54 points respectively.
