Pune: Jamshedpur lad Karan Taunk shot a superb 1-under par 70 to walk away with the honours in the Tata Steel Western India Open Golf Championship even as lead changed hands thrice in four days during the premium event which concluded at the par-71 Poona Club Golf Course here on Friday. The 24-year-old finished the tournament with a level par-284, four shots ahead of overnight leader Samarth Dwivedi.
Bangalore lad Syed Saqib Ahmed also shot final round of 70 to finish third with a 4-day total of 290 while Viraj Madappa of Kolkata and Bangalore’s Trishul Chinnappa were tied for the fourth place at 291. Manu Gandas ended up sixth at 293 while the leader on the first two days, Vikram Rana finished seventh at 294. Manav Das and Amul Waghmare were joint eighth at 295.
“I dedicate this victory to my parents who have always been supportive,” said Karan. “It wasn’t a smooth sailing as my driving was not up to the mark and I went astray on a number of holes. However, I made it up with my short game,” said the champion. With an early bogey on the par-3 second and a double bogey on the par-3 fourth, Karan did not have the best of the starts.
“When I was three-over after four holes, I was struggling. But I thought I should shoot at least a 3-under to be back on track.” Two birdies on the next three holes and without committing any errors, Karan was sailing through the front nine and kept the tempo on the back nine. With back to back birdies on the 12th and 13th, Karan led for the first time and parred his way until the 17th where he once again three-putted for a bogey. But by then, the issue was almost closed. Fittingly Karan signed off with a birdie on the 18th to emerge as the winner, thus annexing his second title on the IGU Amateur circuit. Incidentally he had also won the individual honours in recently concluded Bangladesh Open Amateur.
“Although I have cleared the Q-school, I have retained my amateur status so that I can represent the country in the upcoming events in Malaysia and British Amateur Championships,” said Karan who with this victory has jumped to the top on the Order of Merit list.
Top scores after 72 holes
284 Karan Taunk (75, 70, 69, 70); 288 Samarth Dwivedi (69, 72, 72, 75); 290 Syed Saqib Ahmed (72, 73, 75, 70); 291 Viraj Madappa (74, 71, 74, 72), 291 Trishul Chinnappa (72, 71, 74, 74); 293 Manu Gandas (79, 71, 71, 72); 294 Vikram Rana (68, 72, 77, 77); 295 Manav Das (73, 75, 73, 74), Amul Waghmare (70, 74, 75, 76); 296 Jasjeet Singh (76, 76, 72, 72), 296 M Kanishka Sinha (75, 74, 71, 76); 297 Udayan Mane (73, 77, 75, 72), Piyush Sangwan (75, 73, 72, 77); 298 Shakti Singh (74, 74, 71, 79); 299 Jaibir Singh (76, 71, 75, 77
