Pune: Bangalore’s C Muniyappa won the Final Stage of PGTI’s Qualifying School for 2014 at the Poona Club Golf Course in Pune. Muniyappa totaled eight-under-276 for the tournament after he posted a four-over-75 in the final round on Friday. Karan Taunk of Jamshedpur finished second at five-under-279.
The top 38 players from the Final Qualifying Stage earned full cards for the 2014 PGTI season.
C Muniyappa (63-66-72-75) had a forgettable front-nine as he dropped four shots on the first five holes and a double-bogey on the ninth against a lone birdie on the seventh. His back-nine turned out to be much better as he picked up birdie-eagle-birdie on the 10th, 11th and 12th and thereafter dropped three bogeys.
The 37-year-old Muniyappa, said, “This win is a huge morale-booster for me as I struggled with injury and form recently. I struck the ball well for a major part of the tournament and managed recoveries from some tough situations. I was off-target today with my tee shots but managed to hang in there till the end. I made a chip-in from 30 yards for eagle on the 11th.”
Karan Taunk’s (70-73-67-69) 69 in the final round helped him finish runner-up with a five-under-279 total.
Chandigarh-based American national Rahul Bakshi was a further three strokes behind in third place.
