Shergill triumphs in playoff in TATA Open

Jamshedpur, Nov 1: Gurki Shergill withstood a stiff challenge from defending champion Shamim Khan on the final day of the 8th TATA Open, an Aircel PGTI event, to eventually come up trumps in the playoff and bag his maiden professional title here Sunday.

Pune-based Shergill and Delhi golfer Shamim, the joint overnight leaders, carded identical scores of one under 69 in the final round to be once again tied at the top of the leaderboard with scores of 12 under 270 after the regulation 72 holes.

Shergill finally came through on the first playoff hole. His fabulous win has now catapulted him from 67th to 31st place on the Aircel PGTI Order of Merit.

Mohd Siddikur Rahman of Bangladesh finished third at eight under 274.

The final round Sunday had the same format as the third round. The entire field played nine holes each on both the courses, Beldih as well as Golmuri. While one half of the field teed off from Beldih, the other half began its round from Golmuri.

Twenty-nine golfers with the best scores at the end of round three teed off from Golmuri and finished at Beldih. The par for the combined courses was 70.

The title seemed to be slipping away from Shergill's (64, 69, 68, 69) grasp when he dropped a bogey on the third while Shamim picked up birdies on the fifth and sixth as a result of sinking some really long putts.

Shamim was ahead by two strokes at the turn since Shergill made birdie-bogey on the seventh and eighth even as Shamim himself dropped a bogey on the eighth.

Shergill bounced back by converting two 20-footers for birdies on the 11th and 13th and erased the two-stroke difference by the 15th hole. It was all square after 15 as Shamim on his part birdied the 12th and bogeyed the 15th. The two finally headed for a playoff after both of them made pars on the last three holes.

Shergill sealed the win on the first playoff hole (18th hole) with a birdie that came as a result of a magnificent second shot (eight iron) from 146 yards that hit the flag-stick and landed one foot from the hole. Shamim found the greenside bunker during the playoff and as a consequence made bogey.

"It's an incredible feeling to win my first ever professional title. The victory is yet to sink in. I would like to dedicate this win to my family, especially my wife, my friends, my coach Kel Llewellyn and Brigadier Randhawa (Jyoti Randhawa's father), who have all supported me in many ways all through my professional career," said an ecstatic Shergill.

Shamim, who finished runner-up for the second successive week, said: "I'm quite disappointed that I could not capitalize on my three-stroke advantage. I missed a number of short putts in round four and the conversion of two 30-footers for birdies on the fifth and sixth was the only saving grace as far as my putting is concerned."

Rahman fired a two under 68 in round four to claim third place with an overall score of eight under 274. The Bangladeshi fired four birdies against two bogeys on Sunday.

Gurbaaz Mann of Chandigarh secured fourth place at seven under 275 while Delhi's Vinod Kumar came in fifth at six under 276.