Karandeep Kochhar ended his wait for a maiden IGPL Tour title with a hard-earned victory at the IGPL Invitational UAE, hosted by Shiv Kapur.
Kochhar edged past young Veer Ganapathy and Pukhraj Singh at The Els Club in Dubai, the tenth event of the inaugural IGPL season.
A recent winner on the Asian Development Tour, Kochhar made amends for his runner-up finish at the IGPL Invitational Kolkata. Ganapathy, meanwhile, was left knocking on the door once again as his wait for a first professional win continued.
Kochhar carded a third straight 3-under 69 to finish on 9-under. Ganapathy, who appeared to be cruising towards victory, was left to rue a costly triple bogey on the par-4 14th on the back nine. He signed for an even-par 72 to finish one shot behind the winner.
Joining Ganapathy in tied second was Pukhraj, the winner of IGPL Jamshedpur. He shot a 2-under 70 to also finish on 8-under, one behind Kochhar.
Pranavi Urs, the history-maker at IGPL Mumbai where she finished second behind Kochhar, claimed sole fourth. She shot a 1-under 71 to total 7-under for the 54 holes. Pranavi remains the first woman winner on the IGPL and the first woman to win a professional event while competing against men.
Gaganjeet Bhullar’s winning streak came to an end as he finished fifth after a round of 71 for a total of 6-under. His earlier rounds were 67 and 72. Bhullar had won on each of his previous three IGPL starts.
Tournament host Shiv Kapur (72) finished tied 16th alongside Ridhima Dilawari (75) at 1-under overall. Jeev Milkha Singh, who flew in straight from Mauritius after finishing runner-up on the European Legends Tour, shot a 73 to place tied 18th on his IGPL debut.
Teenager Kartik Singh (71), SSP Chawrasia (72) and rookie professional Raghav Chugh (72) were tied for sixth. All three are still searching for their first IGPL Tour victory, with one event remaining this season in Colombo.
Order of Merit leader Aman Raj (73) finished tied with Hitaashee Bakshi, who once again produced a strong final round with a 6-under 66, and Mysuru golfer Yashas Chandra, who continues to trend upwards. Chandra shot 71 as the trio finished tied at 4-under.
Sachin Baisoya (67), Harendra Gupta (68), Kartik Sharma (70) and Gaurav Ghei (72) were tied for 12th place.
Gill, Kochhar and Urs were two shots behind Ganapathy after the second round. Holding a two-shot lead, Ganapathy looked set for victory before it slipped away on the back nine. Kochhar, who began the final round two shots adrift of the 36-hole leader, kept things steady. Three birdies in the opening eight holes kept the pressure on the young Bengaluru golfer. Despite a bogey on the ninth, Kochhar responded with birdies on the 13th and 14th. A dropped shot on the 15th proved his last blemish as he closed with three pars.
Ganapathy’s challenge unravelled on the 14th, where a triple bogey saw him fall from 11-under to 8-under. Kochhar birdied the same hole, creating a decisive four-shot swing.
Ganapathy had earlier made a shaky start with a double bogey, but two birdies and an eagle on the par-5 fifth, followed by another birdie on the eighth, put him back in the lead. His lone major error on the back nine proved costly as Kochhar held firm.
Pranavi endured an eventful final round, making six birdies, two on the front nine and four on the back. However, four bogeys on the front nine and one on the back resulted in a 71.
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