Udayan Mane wins Tour Championship by 1 stroke

{Press Release}: The 2019 TATA Steel PGTI season had a fitting finale as the battle for the season-ending TATA Steel Tour Championship went down to the wire at the Golmuri Golf Course with multiple contenders in the fray in the dying stages of the tournament.

But it was the Pune-based Udayan Mane’s ‘steely resolve’ that helped him triumph in ‘Steel City’ at the Rs. 1.5 crore event by a slim one-shot margin. Mane’s (67-66-64-65) determined final round effort of seven-under-65 saw him establish a new PGTI record for the lowest tournament total as he closed the week with a jaw-dropping 26-under-262.

It was Udayan’s eighth professional title and his second win on the PGTI this season. The impressive winning cheque worth Rs. 22,50,000 catapulted Mane from ninth to third place in the Final PGTI Order of Merit for 2019. 

Kolkata-based Indian star SSP Chawrasia (63-67-65-68), who was leading by two shots till the 14th hole, carded a 68 on day four and thus had to settle for second place with another outstanding total score of 25-under-263.

Aman Raj (71) of Patna, the third-round leader, ended the week in tied third place at 23-under-265 along with Delhi’s Chiragh Kumar (67).

Four-time European Tour winner Chawrasia, playing in the leader group, needed a 12-feet birdie conversion on the last hole to take the match into a playoff. But SSP missed and Udayan clinched the trophy with a record total that eclipsed the previous best PGTI tournament total of 24-under fired by Anirban Lahiri (Aamby Valley, 2010), Shubhankar Sharma (Eagleton, 2016) and Rashid Khan (Chittagong, 2019).

An ecstatic Udayan, said, “I’m pretty pleased with the entire season having registered two wins. I started the year well but then had a rocky road from March to September. But that lean phase helped me learn a lot about myself and my golf swing and that in turn led to my better performances late in the year at Kensville (PGTI) and in Mauritius (Asian Tour).

“It’s special to end up with a record 26-under total. Interestingly, I also have the amateur record of 21-under in my name here at Golmuri. I thank my sponsor AVT for all their support which has been a major contributing factor to my good performances.”

SSP Chawrasia, playing in Jamshedpur after 12 years, made steady progress through the day as he kept landing it within four feet to collect birdies on the first, fourth, ninth and 12th. The two-time Indian Open champion drained a 12-footer for birdie on the 13th to take a two-shot lead. However, SSP stumbled with a bogey when he missed an up and down from the bunker on the 15th.

Chawrasia, a three-time winner in Jamshedpur in the past, missed his 12-feet birdie putt on the 18th that could’ve taken him into a playoff with Mane.

Chiragh Kumar’s flawless 67 helped him gain two spots and finish tied third, two strokes behind Chawrasia. Aman Raj also took a share of third after an eventful 71 that saw him make an eagle, five birdies, a bogey, a double-bogey, and a triple-bogey.

Sri Lankan N Thangaraja (71) took fifth place at 22-under-266.

Faridabad’s Abhinav Lohan shot the day’s best round of 64 to end up in tied 13th at 15-under-273.

Indian star Gaganjeet Bhullar was placed tied 31st at 11-under-277. The two other Indian legends in the field, Jeev Milkha Singh and Jyoti Randhawa finished tied 39th with matching totals of 10-under-278.

Jamshedpur’s Karan Taunk took tied 71st place at eight-over-296.