The Delhi pro fired a round of three-under par 67 for a total of 271 and edged Lucknow's Vijay Kumar by one stroke in a battle which lasted till the final hole. Incidentally Vijay Kumar, who also finished the day with a card of 67, had lost to Feroz Ali by a similar margin last year.

Calcutta's Uttam Singh Mundy came in a close third with a total of seven- under par 273. Vivek Bhandari, who teed-off in the top group today with Ghei and Vijay Kumar, lost steam mid-way through his round. It was a disappointing performance by the Delhi pro who had steady sub-par scores on all the first three days. With Bhandari finding every tree and rough on the course, the battle was relegated to one between Ghei and Vijay Kumar, winner here in the 1996inaugural meet.

Coming into the last day, one stroke behind Ghei, Vijay sounded the warning bells, firing a birdie on the very first hole to level scores. The 1997-98 Mahindra Golfer of the Year birdied the par-five fourth to take the lead but not for long. Vijay dropped a shot on the very next hole even as Ghei fired a birdie to level scores again. While the latter managed to keep his play steady, Vijay did all the moving both up and down. The Lucknow golfer birdied the eighth but bogeyed the ninth to again fall behind the overnight leader. The see-saw battle continued on the back nine with Vijay doing much of the moving while Ghei played some steady golf.

Two strokes down on the par-four 15th, Ghei three-putted for a bogey after landing on the left of the greens with his second shot. This gave Vijay, who was on the greens, a chance with his second shot.

Quite contrary to his putting abilities, Vijay also three-putted and failed to lower the margin. A birdie on the par-five 16th heightened Vijay'schances of a coup.

On the 18th, Vijay had a chance of an eagle when his second shot landed a couple of feet away from the pin. Ghei too landed on the greens but had to play across the sloping greens to reach the pin. Vijay who looked on a very good position missed the 12-feet putt for an eagle. Ghei on his part made no mistake and two-putted for a birdie.

In the second group, Honda Siel winner Mundy, made a very strong charge today. But a birdie chance missed on the par-five 18th ruined his chances to finish second and take Vijay into a play-off who went home richer by Rs 1.6 lakh.

First-day leader Jyoti Randhawa, who will now be seen in action on the Omega Tour finished his tournament with a steady par-70 round for fourth position.Defending champion Feroz Ali carded a two-under par 68 but managed to finish seventh. Among those to register sub-par scores today were, Mhow's Mukesh Kumar and Mumbai's Prakash Kubde.

The 15-lakh event was the last major on the Wills Sport Golf Tour of the Indian PGA. TheWills Masters won by Arjun Singh and the Honda Siel PGA Championship were the other two.

Amit Nigam, with a total of 309, finished at the top of the amateur group.

RESULTS

Final leading scores: 280: Gaurav Ghei (73+63+67+67); 271: Vijay Kumar (70+69+65+67); 273: Uttam Singh Mundy (72+67+68+68); 276: Jyoti Randhawa (64+70+72+70); 277: Vivek Bhandari (69+67+68+73); Basad Ali (68+68+71+70); 279: Feroz Ali (72+69+70+68); 281: Rafiq Ali (71+69+70+71); 282: Shiv Prakash (71+75+65+71); Devendra Patel (69+71+72+70); 283: Ranjit Singh (78+68+67+70); Mukesh Kumar (69+70+75+69).

Amateurs: 309: Amit Nigam (75+77+78+79); 317: Rohit Goel (76+79+81+81).