DIGBOI, India – Nov. 29, 2004 – Mukesh Kumar gave his dream of winning a fourth Amby Valley PGAI Tour Order of Merit title a good boost with a resounding win at the Rs 10-lakh IndianOil Servo Masters Golf 2004, played at the par-72, Digboi Club Golf Links in Assam. Mukesh’s third title win at the IndianOil Servo Masters came with a tournament title of 19-under 269 and fetched him a prize purse of Rs 1,62,000.
Rafick Ali put up a brilliant fight but his second successive round of seven-under 65 could fetch him only a tied-second position along with fellow Kolkatan, Yusuf Ali. The duo got to take home Rs 87,500 each. Chandigarh’s Amritinder Singh finished third at eight-under 280, while opening round leader Shiv Kapur shot a final round 71, to finish tied 12th with two others.
Mukesh Kumar has been forced out of the limelight for most part of the last year and a half. The culprit, 23-year old Ashok Kumar did the three-time Order of Merit winner a huge favour by pulling out of the IndianOil Servo Masters Golf 2004. Ashok, laid low by a bout of food poisoning would have had a shot at his sixth straight title win had he played. Mukesh Kumar however, took advantage of this situation to reclaim his lost glory.
When Mukesh teed off at the Digboi Club Golf Links on Saturday, he had already won the mental battle over his competitors. His birdie on the third, only further weakened whatever resolve the others had. Despite a dropped shot on the fourth, Mukesh went on to birdie the ninth to end his front-nine at one-under. A bogey on the tenth where he overshot the green was the only other mistake Mukesh was to make and the champion golfer went on to birdie the 11th, 14th and 15th to end his round at three-under 69. “I had but one goal in mind today — to play steady. I just wanted to par every hole and hit every green. This worked and earned me my second title. Digboi is one of my favourite venues and I would like to thank the sponsors IndianOil for hosting this tournament year after year,” smiled the Mhow based pro.
Rafick Ali was on song on Saturday. The Kolkatan, might indeed have had a good shot at the title but for the fact that he recovered his form a little late in the tournament. “I had a bad time with my driver on the first two days especially on day one when I shot a five-over 77, but for which I would have had a good chance to win this week,” he added. Rafick had a dream front-nine with birdies on the third, fourth, seventh, eighth and ninth. Five-under on the tenth tee box, Rafick reeled off two straight pars before dropping his first shot of the day on the 12th. He however made up with birdies on the 13th, 14th, 16th and 18th with a bogey on the 17th preventing him from equaling his career best score of eight-under, achieved twice, once at the Royal Challenge Grand Prix 2001 at Kolkata and the other at the Honda Siel-PGA Championship at Dhaulakuan, Delhi, way back in 1997.
Yusuf Ali admittedly putted terribly on Saturday. The Kolkatan started his round with a bogey and went on to post another on the seventh. Birdies on the third and eighth placed him at level-par on the tenth tee box. On his return journey Yusuf birdied the 14th and 18th to end his day at two-under 70. “I really need to work no my putting if I am to return a win this season,” said the 32-year old.
Baruah wins amateur title: Ajay Baruah won the amateur title with a tournament tally of 333.
Score (after 72 holes): 269 Mukesh Kumar(67,65,68,69); 276 Rafick Ali(77,69,65,65), Yusuf Ali(70,69,67,70); 280 Amritinder Singh(70,72,67,71); 282 Randhir Ghotra(70,72,70,70); 283 Feroz Ali(72,72,71,68); 285 Sanjay Kumar(76,69,71,69), Harinder Gupta(70,76,66,73); 286 Mohd. Khokhan(71,75,73,67); 287 Rahul Ganapathy(75,70,76,66), Mohd. Islam(72,72,72,71), Shiv Kapur(67,72,77,71)
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