Local lad Shankar Das’ sensational win at McLeod Russel Tour Championship earns him Rolex Player of the Year title

Gaganjeet Bhullar, Abhinav Lohan are joint runners-up; Shubhankar shoots rare ‘albatross’

Kolkata, December 28, 2014: Kolkata’s Shankar Das won the Rs. 1.5 crore McLeod Russel Tour Championship after his final round of three-under-69 at his home course, the Royal Calcutta Golf Club (RCGC). Shankar as a result of his win also topped the Rolex Rankings and bagged the Rolex Player of the Year title for 2014. Das totaled 16-under-272 for the week to register the biggest win of his career.

Kapurthala’s Gaganjeet Bhullar and Abhinav Lohan of the DLF Golf & Country Club, Gurgaon, were joint runners-up at 13-under-275 as they fired matching scores of 68 in round four.

Shankar Das (68-70-65-69), who started the final round with a two-shot lead, came out a determined man on Sunday. Shankar’s burning desire to win in front of his home crowd for the first time was reflected in his solid start as he birdied the first hole from 20 feet. Das, who was also in search of the Rolex Rankings crown, carried on the good work with another birdie on the fourth.

The three-putt bogey on the 11^th didn’t dampen Shankar’s spirits as he hit an outstanding tee shot on the par-3 13^th and thereafter sank a 12-footer for birdie. The ever-smiling Shankar once again seemed unfazed after the dropped shot on the 14^th as he came back stronger with birdies on the 15^th and 16^th thanks to some excellent wedge shots. The 31-year-old made pars on the last two holes to seal a comfortable three-shot win and take home his fifth tournament trophy. Das thus earned a handsome pay cheque of Rs. 23,77,500, the highest ever for a domestic tournament in India.  

Shankar, who was ranked third in the money list at the start of the week, finished with total earnings of Rs. 54,32,067 for the 2014 season and therefore overhauled Bangalore’s Chikkarangappa S in the race for the Rolex Player of the Year. Chikkarangappa, who finished fourth at this week’s event, ended the year with total earnings of Rs. 47,15,336 to claim second place in the Rolex Rankings for the second year running.

  

“This is definitely the biggest win of my career. It’s helped me become number one on the PGTI for the first time. It’s also great to win on my home turf for the first time. The overwhelming support from the RCGC members, my family and friends through this week played a huge role in my performance. It’s been a tough time for my family this year. I missed about four tournaments midway through the season due to my mother’s poor health. However, I came back stronger on the tour with some good performances and top-5 finishes. It’s great to end the year with a win, my first in over 15 months. I will now aim to use my country spot to good effect on the Asian Tour next year,” said a beaming Shankar.

He added, “I didn’t bother too much about the leaderboard today and focused on playing a good round. I was lucky to get off to a good start with a birdie on the first. The birdie on the fourth really set up the round for me as my confidence was soaring by then. The best shot of the day was the tee shot on the 13^th where I successfully negotiated a tough pin position.”

Gaganjeet Bhullar came into his own on the final day with a 68 that featured five birdies and a bogey. Bhullar did mount a challenge with a hat-trick of birdies on the back-nine but Shankar’s late charge on the 15^th and 16^th put paid to Gaganjeet’s title hopes.

Abhinav Lohan also mixed five birdies with a lone bogey on Sunday to end up in joint second along with Bhullar. Lohan, as a result, climbed from 16^th to seventh position in the final Rolex Rankings.

Bangalore’s Chikkarangappa, who required a runner-up finish to seal the Rolex Rankings title, claimed fourth position at 12-under-276 after his final round of 69 and thus ended up in second position in the money list.

Delhi’s Shamim Khan finished a further stroke behind Chikka in fifth place. Shamim made five consecutive birdies from the 13^th to the 17^th during his fourth round effort of 71.

Gurgaon-based Shubhankar Sharma, the leader in the first two rounds, fired an incredible albatross on the par-5 fourth during his final round of 70. He holed his four-iron second shot from 224 yards to achieve the rare feat. This was only the fourth albatross on the PGTI. Sharma secured sixth place in the tournament as he totaled eight-under-280 for the week.

“It was unbelievable. I didn’t see the ball go in but I only realized I had made an albatross when I was walking up to the green and my playing partner Anura Rohana informed me that my ball was in the hole,” said a delighted Shubhankar.

Kolkata’s SSP Chowrasia shared seventh spot with Sri Lankan K Prabagaran at seven-undeer-281.

Arjun Atwal, another local favourite, ended ninth at six-under-282 in his maiden event on the PGTI. He shot a final round of 72.

The 2013 Rolex Rankings champion Rashid Khan of Delhi, who equaled the course record of 63 earlier in the week, was tied 10^th at four-under-284 along with Sri Lankans Anura Rohana and Mithun Perera and Delhi’s Vinod Kumar.

Kolkata golfer Rahil Gangjee was joint 20^th at one-under-287.

Jamshedpur’s Karan Taunk, who finished tied 61^st this week, won the 2014 PGTI Emerging Player of the Year title for recording the highest earnings among the rookies this season. Taunk’s earnings for 2014 stood at Rs. 5,83,095. Sanjeev Kumar of Lucknow finished second in the Emerging Player list with season’s earnings of Rs. 4,70,281.