Rookie Rahil Gangjee too good

The famous tale of David and Goliath was reenacted on Sunday, when rookie golfer Rahil Gangjee warded off a superb fightback from India’s best golfer Mukesh Kumar to bag his first career title and a cheque of Rs 97,200 at the Rs 600,000 HT Pro Golf 2001 - Lucknow, played at the par-71, 6,461-yard Lucknow Golf Course.

Rahil’s winning tally stood at 16-under 268.

The Hindustan Times -sponsored tournament was the eighth-leg of the Hero Honda Golf Tour’s 2001-02 season.

Mukesh Kumar had to be satisfied with the second spot after finishing two-strokes behind the winner at 14-under 270. Calcutta's S S P Chowrasia occupied the third spot at nine-under 275, while local hero Vijay Kumar finished fourth at eight-under 276. Delhi's Rohtas Singh was fifth at 279, while Calcutta's Feroz Ali finished sixth at 280.

Another local golfer Sanjay Kumar occupied the seventh spot at 281. Defending champion, Kanpur’s Shiv Prakash was tied for eighth spot at 282.

Gangjee oozes confidence. It is not too often that a rookie golfer when confronted by the best and constantly put under pressure comes out unscathed. Gangjee did.

"This is the best moment of my life," said the smiling golfer. "I was certain I would win when I started off today. However, I did not expect such a fightback from Mukesh," he said.

Indeed, Mukesh Kumar, known for his mental toughness, came close to pulling the rug from under Gangjee's feet on at least two occasions, but the Calcuttan held his nerve, displaying some exemplary shots including a chipped in-effort for eagle on the 16th.

"I had my ups and downs today. Especially on the back-nine, when I hit the water hazard with my tee shot on the 10th. Mukesh was one stroke behind me then," he said.

Then again, on the 14th, he was breathing down my neck, but luckily I held my nerve," added the 23-year old.

"The course played superb today. I look forward to coming back," he concluded. Gangjee's round of three-under 68 contained other than his eagle on the16th, birdies on the 1st, 4th, 9th and 12th and bogeys on the 8th, 10th and 17th. Incidentally, the last time a rookie golfer won a tournament in his debut year, was when Digvijay Singh baged the BPGC Open in March 2000.

"I feel great. I have more than achieved the goals I set for myself this season," said Gangjee, who is being managed by the Delhi based Tiger Spoirts Marketing.

Mukesh Kumar is not used to finishing second best. But on Sunday, by his own admission, he was outdone by terrific performance.

"I played to six-under 65. On most occassions, that is enough to win one the title, but Rahil was outstanding," said the leader of the Order of Merit who earned Rs 67,200 for his effort.

"I had a fine chance of catching up with Rahil twice on the back-nine but no matter how much pressure I put on him, he just wouldn’t crumble," said the 33-year old.

Mukesh returned birdies on the 2nd, 4th, 7th, 12th and 16th, eagled the 3rd bogeying just one hole, the 17th.

"We now have a number of talented youngsters like Rahil, Sheeraz and Zai. No longer can the old guard take things easy," he said.

Nath wins amateur title: Arindam Nath sneaked to a close win over Rishi Khanna in the amateur category with a final tally of 302. Nath posted a five-over 76. Rishi Khanna, who played to level-par 71, finished second one stroke behind the winner at 303.

Scores (after 72 holes): 268_Rahil Gangjee(68,65,67,68); 270_Mukesh Kumar(68,69,68,65); 275_SSP Chowrasia(66,69,74,66); 276_Vijay Kumar(69,68,70,69); 279_Rohtas Singh(71,67,68,73); 280_Feroz Ali(72,72,70,66); 281_Sanjay Kumar(71,69,70,71); 282_Jaiveer Virk(73,68,75,66), Shiv Prakash(71,72,70,69), GS Sethi(70,72,71,69), Mohd. Islam(71,71,68,72); 283_Bhoop Singh(70,72,71,70); 285_Vinod Kumar (D) (74,70,69,72); 286_Shamim Khan(70,72,71,73), Jumman(68,71,70,77).

Amateurs: 302_Arindam Nath(74,74,78,76); 303_Rishi Khanna(75,76,81,71).