Noida:

Amardip Sinh Malik of Greater Noida clinched his maiden title at the Rs. 40 lakh PGTI Noida Masters after a playoff win against Md Zamal Hossain Mollah of Bangladesh at the Noida Golf Course. Chikkarangappa S of Bangalore won the Super Series title to earn a bonus prize of Rs. 30 lakh after ending top of the table at the seventh and final Super Series event of 2014.

Amardip Sinh Malik (70-67-70-78) and Md Zamal Hossain Mollah (72-69-73-71) ended the regulation 72 holes with matching totals of three-under-285 and thus proceeded for the playoff on the 18th hole. Malik sealed it with a par on the first playoff hole even as Zamal dropped a bogey. While Malik was two on the green and two-putted for par, Zamal found the green in four shots after landing it in the bunker.

The 29-year-old Amardip Sinh Malik, the overnight leader by four shots, seemed to be losing grip of the match as he made four bogeys and a double-bogey on the first 14 holes to be six-over for the day. He then made two birdies and two bogeys on the last four holes to end the day with a six-over-78. Malik was a picture of grit and determination in the playoff as he wrapped it up with a five-feet par putt.

Amardip, who climbed from 49th place to 23rd place in the Rolex Rankings after his win on Friday, said, “I’m delighted to post my first win. I’ve come close to winning on quite a few occasions in the past. But it was great to finally cross the line. I had a forgettable fourth round as I missed a lot of short putts and found myself in tough situations. However, I hung in there with two birdies towards the end. My perseverance paid off in the playoff. This win has boosted my confidence for the last two events of the season.”

Md Zamal Hossain Mollah mixed three birdies with two bogeys in his final round of one-under-71 before losing out in the playoff.

Noida’s Vikrant Chopra shot a final round of even-par-72 to finish third at two-under-286.

Chikkarangappa became the Super Series champion after finishing tied fourth at one-under-287. He fired a 71 in the final round on Friday. Chikka, a winner of two Super Series events in 2014, ended on top of the Super Series Points Table with a total of 3837.61 to earn the bonus prize of Rs. 30 lakh. The 21-year-old also continues to lead the Rolex Rankings with earnings of Rs. 36,89,711.

Kapil Kumar of Delhi and Mukesh Kumar of Mhow shared fourth place with Chikkarangappa.

Delhi’s Rashid Khan, who finished tied 12th at Noida at three-over-291, claimed second place with 3394 points.

Amardip Sinh Malik finished third in the Super Series with 2252.19 points.

source: http://www.indiansportsnews.com / Indian Sports News / Home> Golf / Monday – December 15th, 2014