CHIKKARANGAPPA COMES THROUGH IN A CLIFFHANGER ,
EDGES OUT LOCAL FAVOURITE KARANDEEP KOCHHAR IN A PLAYOFF TO END TWO-YEAR TITLE DROUGHT
Chikkarangappa receives the winning cheque from Indian sporting legend and Jeev Milkha Singh’s father Mr. Milkha Singh (4th from left), Mr. Srinivasan H R, Vice
Chairman & MD, TAKE Solutions (2nd from right) & Mr. B S Gill, President, Chandigarh GC (3rd from left). The others seen in the picture are Jeev Milkha Singh (extreme
left), Mr. D V Ravi from TAKE Solutions (2nd from left), Mr. K S Brar, Captain, Chandigarh GC (4th from right) & Mr. U S Mundy, CEO, PGTI (extreme right)
B
engaluru lad Chikkarangappa’s
playoff win over local favourite
Karandeep Kochhar of Chandigarh
provided a ¿ tting ¿ nale to the ¿ rst ever
PGTI event to be named after a legendary
Indian golfer.
The 25-year-old Chikkarangappa S (70-
66-68-72) came through in a cliffhanger
at the Jeev Milkha Singh Invitational 2018
presented by TAKE Solutions after he ended
the regulation 72 holes tied at the top along
with 19-year-old Karandeep Kochhar (66-
70-70-70) at 12-under-276 at the Chandigarh
Golf Club.
After a see-saw battle for a major part of
the ¿ nal day, Chikka began the ¿ nal hole
in regulation play with a one-shot lead over
Karandeep. But Karandeep got back in the
game with an unbelievable birdie conversion
from off the green on the 18th to take the
match into a playoff.
On the playoff hole, the more experienced
Chikka kept his nerve by making par with
a regulation two-putt to clinch his 11th title
record has been fantastic over the years. My
con¿ dence was quite high going into the
playoff and that reÀ ected in my shots.”
Nine-time Asian Tour winner Jyoti Randhawa
claimed third place at 10-under-278.
The celebrations begin for Chikkarangappa
even as Kochhar missed a par putt from two
feet to the utter disbelief of the home crowd.
Chikka thus ended a two-year title drought
and kept his enviable unbeaten playoff
record intact by winning his fourth playoff
on the PGTI. He took home the winner’s
cheque worth Rs. 24,24,750.
Chikka, the 2015 PGTI Order of Merit
champion, said, “I’ve been counting the
days since I last won and today I can say
that I won after a gap of 745 days. I’m quite
relieved to have ended that winless streak.
“Once we were in the playoff, I just knew
that I had the advantage as my playoff
GolfPlus
Tournament host Jeev Milkha Singh tees off in Round 1
as his playing partners Shiv Kapur and SSP Chawrasia
look on
Nineteen-year-old Karandeep Kochhar finished
runner-up after a see-saw battle on the final day
DECEMBER
2018
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