In-form Manu Gandas of Gurugram continued to impress in what has been a standout season for him so far as he shot a resolute final round of four-under 68 to register a convincing four-stroke win at the Prometheus School presents Delhi-NCR Open 2022, a Rs. 40 lakh event, played here at the Noida Golf Course.
In the searing heat on Friday, Gandas (65-69-67-68) totalled 19-under 269 for the week to record his third career victory which was also his second of the 2022 season. The 26-year-old Manu picked up the winning cheque worth Rs. 6,46,600 to move up from fifth to third position in the PGTI Order of Merit.
Zamal Hossain Mollah (66-70-69-68) of Bangladesh finished runner-up at 15-under 273 as a result of his last round of 68. It was Zamal's second straight runner-up finish following his second spot at Chandigarh last week. Mollah thus climbed from 10th to fifth place in the PGTI Order of Merit.
Manu Gandas, the overnight joint leader along with Amardeep Malik, slipped two shots behind after the latter made an eagle with a 15-feet conversion on the opening hole. However, Manu soon gained the sole lead with birdies on the third, fourth and eighth where he too sank some long putts even as Amardeep dropped shots on the fourth and seventh where he struggled with his hitting.
Gandas, enjoying a three-shot lead at the turn, built further on his lead on the back-nine claiming birdies with two more long conversions on the 13th and 14th. Manu's only bogey of the day came on the 16th but didn't have much of an impact on the game situation as Gandas was already on his way to a comfortable win.
Manu said, "From last year, I've been working very hard on the areas I felt I was lacking in. The result of all that hard work is now showing and that's also been the key to my success so far this season. I improved upon what I already had.
"Today, I stuck to my own game without bothering too much about the leaderboard. I kept giving myself a lot of birdie chances. I missed out on a few opportunities but fortunately, the other chances I was able to convert into birdies proved to be enough for me.
"I played all 18 holes in the same manner and with the same mindset taking each shot at a time. I didn't see the scoreboard too often but I knew I had a good cushion on the back-nine so I just focused on my process and the things I had done well through the week.
"My driving was good for the most part of the week, so that too helped me put up low numbers."
Md Zamal Hossain Mollah, also playing in the leader group along with Gandas and Malik, had four birdies and two bogeys through 16 holes. Zamal then jumped into the second position with his eagle on the par-5 17th where he landed his second shot within three feet of the pin.
Noida's Amardeep Malik, who began the day with an eagle on the first for the early lead, dropped out of contention after making three bogeys and a double-bogey over the next 12 holes where he missed a few fairways. Malik added another birdie and bogey on the last five holes to post a 75 and finish third at 12-under 276.
Vikrant Chopra (70), another Noida-based professional, took fourth place at 10-under 278.
Arjun Prasad and rookie Sunhit Bishnoi fired the day's best score of 67. While Arjun finished tied 12th at six-under 282, Sunhit ended tied 33rd at even-par 288.
( With inputs from ANI )
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