Sanjay retains title, Vijay finishes second

Local favourite Sanjay Kumar retained his title after registered a comprehensive seven-shot victory over citymate Vijay Kumar at the PGTI Feeder Tour event, on Friday.

Lucknow: Local favourite Sanjay Kumar retained his title after registered a comprehensive seven-shot victory over citymate Vijay Kumar at the PGTI Feeder Tour event, here on Thursday.

Sanjay shot a four-under-66 at his home course in the third and final round to end the week with a total score of 13-under-197. Vijay finished at six-under-204. Sanjay (66-65-66), who led from round one to the end of the tournament, had an astonishing run of five straight birdies from the third through the seventh against a lone bogey on the 17th in the final round. The 42-year-old landed it within five feet on the third, fourth and sixth and sank a couple of 10-footers on the fifth and seventh. Sanjay missed a four feet putt to drop his only bogey of the day on the 17th. Sanjay, who now has six professional titles to his credit, said, "My consistent hitting through the week contributed to my win. I hit a couple of excellent tee shots on the fourth and sixth, both par-3s, where the ball stopped just two feet from the hole. After taking a big lead on the front-nine, I decided to play steady on the back-nine." Vijay (67-66-71) returned a one-over-71 in the third round to finish a distant second. His last round was punctuated by four birdies, three bogeys and a double-bogey. Arjun Singh Chaudhri (71-69-67) of Noida shared third place along with another Lucknow-based professional Manoj Kumar (69-71-67) at three-under-207. Chaudhri continues to lead the 2013 PGTI Feeder Tour Order of Merit with earnings of Rs. 1,98,740 for the year so far. He currently enjoys a lead of Rs. 70,000 over his nearest rival Honey Baisoya of Delhi in the Order of Merit. Two more Lucknow golfers, Sanjeev Kumar (two-under-208) and Rajesh Kumar Rawat (one-under-209), finished fifth and sixth respectively. Delhi golfers Honey and Wasim Khan were tied seventh along with Gurgaon`s Shubhankar Sharma and Balwinder Singh Mattu of Jalandhar at one-over-211.