Bengaluru, Oct 10 (IANS) Sri Lankan N. Thangaraja continued his hot streak by bagging his second title in four weeks and third trophy of the season following his resolute final round card of two-under 69 at the INR 1 crore Bengaluru Open 2025 played at the Karnataka Golf Association (KGA) course in Bengaluru.
Thangaraja (66-65-66-69) came home the champion by a two-shot margin at a total of 18-under 266 to secure his seventh professional win.
The 44-year-old from Colombo picked up the winning cheque worth INR 15 lakh that took his season’s earnings to INR 82,22,088. Thanga, as a result, consolidated himself in third position in the PGTI Order of Merit as he came within INR 6.45 lakh of the merit list leader Yuvraj Sandhu.
Manu Gandas (70-63-69-66) of Gurugram finished runner-up at 16-under 268 after he posted a 66 on the last day.
Bengaluru-based Rahil Gangjee shot the final day’s best score of 64 to claim tied third place at 13-under 271 along with Saptak Talwar, who carded a 67 on day four.
The 17-year-old rookie Manoj S. (66) of Bengaluru took fifth place at 12-under 272.
Delhi’s Arjun Prasad (70) finished tied 15th at seven-under 277. Arjun continued in second place on PGTI’s money list and also closed the gap with PGTI Ranking leader Yuvraj Sandhu to nearly INR 2.5 lakh.
N. Thangaraja, enjoying a commanding five-shot lead heading into the final round, had a mixed front-nine where he made a birdie and bogey each. On the back nine, Manu Gandas began to pose a serious challenge to the leader with four birdies till the 15th.
However, Thangaraja rose to the occasion with three straight birdies from the 11th to the 13th, courtesy of a great approach and an accurate tee shot that kept him ahead of the pack. Thanga’s bogey on the 14th couldn’t derail his round as the seasoned campaigner closed out the tournament with pars on the last four holes.
Thangaraja, who had recorded a win and a runner-up finish on the PGTI in the past three weeks, said, “I feel my game turned around after I changed the grip on my putter ahead of the Chennai event. Since then, my putting has just taken off. I’ve been very consistent with my putting over the last four weeks, which in turn produced the desired results for me.
“I was focused and relaxed through the day today despite the likes of Manu making a charge and closing the gap with me on the back-nine. I didn’t really feel pressure and just played like I had played in the previous three rounds.
“I’m happy that I have been getting better with every passing week. These are good signs for me in the lead up to the DP World India Championship in Delhi next week, a tournament where I’m very keen to perform well and make a mark.”
Noida’s Kanav Chauhan (72), the only amateur to make the cut, took the trophy for the best-performing amateur. He finished tied 33rd at even-par 284.
Panchkula’s Brijesh Kumar made a hole-in-one on the 15th during his last round of 76. He finished 49th at 12-over 296.
–IANS
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