Jamshedpur, Dec 28 (IANS) Yuvraj Sandhu, who had already secured the 2025 PGTI Order of Merit crown following his sixth victory of the season two weeks back, added another feather to his cap with a one-stroke triumph in the Tata Open 2025 to make it a record seven titles in the season.
The 28-year-old Yuvraj (67-64-68-65), the overnight joint leader, shot a final round score of six-under 65, highlighted by his match-winning birdie on the last hole to total 20-under 264 for the week at the INR 2 crore event, the PGTI’s season finale, played at the Beldih and Golmuri Golf Courses in Jamshedpur on Sunday.
Chandigarh-based Sandhu, who has now earned his card for the DP World Tour for 2026 by virtue of topping the PGTI Ranking, set a new record for most wins in a single season on the PGTI. Two weeks back in Delhi, Yuvraj had equalled the previous record of six wins in a season held by Manu Gandas since 2022.
The 21-year-old Shubham Jaglan (68-66-65-66), the overnight joint leader along with Yuvraj, came up with a bogey-free five-under 66 in round four to total 19-under 265 for the week and register his second runner-up finish on the PGTI in only his third appearance on the tour.
Khalin Joshi (66) and Veer Ahlawat (66) finished tied third at totals of 14-under 270.
Yuvraj Sandhu picked up the winning cheque worth INR 30 lakh to take his season’s earnings to a whopping INR 1,91,67,100, thus smashing the previous record for season’s earnings on the PGTI set at INR 1,56,35,724 by Veer Ahlawat in 2024.
Yuvraj, who hails from the Chandigarh Golf Club, won seven titles and posted seven other top-10s this season, including three runner-up finishes.
Sri Lankan N. Thangaraja, a three-time winner on the PGTI this year, finished a distant second on the PGTI Ranking with season’s earnings of INR 1,18,21,821. Thangaraja secured fifth place at Jamshedpur this week as he totalled 13-under 271.
In rounds one and two, one half of the field played its 18 holes at Beldih Golf Club while the other half of the field played its 18 holes at the Golmuri Golf Club. In rounds three and four, the leading groups played their front-nine at Golmuri before moving to Beldih to play their back-nine. The par for Golmuri and Beldih combined was 71.
Yuvraj Sandhu was quick off the blocks with birdies on the first two holes. Yuvraj, who kept converting putts from a range of seven to eight feet with relative ease, then collected two more birdies on the sixth and ninth. Sandhu’s two bogeys on the back nine could not upset his rhythm as he earned three birdies courtesy of his immaculate ball-striking and before delivering the knock-out punch with his 15-foot birdie conversion on the 18th.
Gurugram-based Shubham Jaglan, who turned professional earlier this year, was neck and neck with Sandhu for most of the day as the former made three birdies on the front nine and added two more on the back nine. Shubham, who had played at Golmuri as a junior but never played at Beldih earlier, was edged out of title contention by Yuvraj’s decisive birdie on the 18th.
“I was determined to end the season with a good performance, and I’m glad that I managed to achieve that today. Hats off to Shubham for competing hard and pushing me till the end. He played really well and is destined for bigger things, Yuvraj said. “Standing on the birdie putt on the last hole, I just wanted to put enough pace on it as I had left some putts short earlier in the week. The line and speed of the putt turned out to be perfect.
“This has been my best season ever, and winning a record seven titles has been special. It’s yet to sink in. It is always good to have records in your name. I’ve also ticked some important boxes this year, like winning at Delhi Golf Club and winning the TATA Open. I’ve seen all the greats win the TATA Open in the past, so I always had a burning desire to win here in Jamshedpur, playing across two courses.
“I’m now really excited to head to the DP World Tour next year. My performances are a result of the hard work put in by my whole team,” he added.
Jamshedpur’s Kurush Heerjee finished tied 51st at 13-over 297.
Manoj S is PGTI Emerging Player of the Year
The 17-year-old Rookie Manoj S. of Bengaluru won the PGTI Emerging Player of the Year title with season’s earnings of INR 37,21,945, the highest among the rookies. Manoj, who finished in tied 12th place at six-under 278 at the season-ending event, secured a creditable 21st position on the PGTI Order of Merit as a result of his seven top-10s in the season.
–IANS
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