New Delhi, April 25: Shiv Prakash is thrilled, not because he won the title -- that was his after two rounds -- but he could call home to convey the news. All these years, he didn't have a telephone at home to convey what he had achieved on the golf courses around the country. It was installed at home about a couple of months ago. It is not yet known how his family reacted to his record-breaking title win, but his name became part of Delhi Golf Club history when he finished with a mind-boggling aggregate of 17-under 271 to pocket Rs 1,16,620 and a trophy at the SRF Open here today.The 38-year-old Kanpur pro thus put in the shade Gaurav Ghei's 14-under 274 in 1995 at the Gadgil Western APGA tournament at the same course.
Ironically, Prakash had only a two-under 70 in the last round, which was rather poor considering that he had six-under and five-under in the previous two rounds.
``After the second round, I knew I would win the tournament and there was no need for me to take any risks because theothers were way behind,'' he said later.
Coming to think of it, the final round was all about who will finish behind Prakash. Vivek Bhandari, who was eight shots behind when he began the last 18 holes today, came back with an awful four-over 76 to slip to joint fourth along with Jyoti Randhawa and Rohtas Singh.
It was Arjun Singh, joint third after round three, who finally grabbed the second spot with a three-under 69 to finish 11 strokes behind. But the best card of the day came from Arjun Atwal who had five birdies on the back nine to round off the tournament with a 67 and an aggregate of 283, falling one short of a joint second spot. Atwal sank a 40-foot birdie on the 17th, but missed an eagle on the 18th when his ball stopped just to the right of the cup.
Meanwhile, Shiv Prakash who began with an eight-stroke cushion, played percentage golf and did not attempt anything fancy. If he had two birdies on the first nine -- first and eighth -- he bogeyed the fifth and sixth to go out on a level par. Onthe way back he birdied the 11th and 14th and since his title triumph was the most anti-climactic thing to happen on the last day, there was little celebration after he parred the the 18th.
Last year's champion Gaurav Ghei had a second consecutive level par to finish joint sixth (288) with Jumman.
Final scores (Prize money in brackets): Professionals: 68, 66, 67, 70 (271) Shiv Prakash (Rs 1,16,620); 74, 67, 72, 69 (282) Arjun Singh (Rs. 77,770); 78, 69, 69, 67 (283) Arjun Atwal (Rs 44,870); 69, 72, 68, 76 Vivek Bhandari, 72, 73, 68, 72 Jyoti Randhawa, 73, 72, 69, 71 (285) Rohtas Singh (Rs 30,785); 72, 73, 70, 71 (286) Ali Sher (Rs 22,050); 69, 75, 72, 72 Gaurav Ghei, 71, 74, 73, 70 (288) Jumman (Rs 17,125); 74, 71, 72, 73 (290) Vishal Singh (Rs 15,050).
Amateurs: 72, 69, 72, 74 (287) Amit Luthra; 76, 75, 69, 80 (300) Ashok Kumar; 72, 75, 76, 77 (300) Sheeraz Kalra.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
