#Shubhankar emerges triumphant in dramatic finale

Kolkata, Mar 25 (PTI) Shubhankar Sharma today emerged triumphant on a dramatic final day of the inaugural Kolkata Classic to capture his second title of the season here.

Shubhankar, who posted a four-under-68 today, ended the week with a winning total of nine-under-279 at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club (RCGC).

There was heartbreak for Bengaluru’s Khalin Joshi (71), who finished tied second, despite leading till the final hole of the Rs 30 lakh event. Kolkata’s Shankar Das brought cheer to the home crowd as he delivered the day’s best score of 67 to join Joshi in tied second at eight-under-280.

It was a keen tussle between two of India’s bright young prospects, Shubhankar (68-72-71-68) and Khalin (71-69-69-71), on the final day.

Gurgaon golfer Shubhankar, who began the day in tied fourth, two off the lead, produced some excellent iron-play to accumulate four birdies till the 14th. He finally caught up with the overnight leader Khalin after a good recovery from the bunker that led to his fifth birdie of the day on the 16th.

The 19-year-old Shubhankar, who recorded a win and a runner-up finish on the PGTI last month, then seemed to have slipped out of contention as he overshot the ninth green to drop a bogey. However, there was a final twist to the tale.

Joshi, who was one ahead with three birdies for the day till he stepped on the 18th tee, landed his drive to the right and also missed a chip-putt on the last hole to concede a disastrous double-bogey that handed the title to Shubhankar.

Shubhankar thus garnered his third professional title and took home the cheque worth Rs. 4,50,000 to move up from second to first position in the Rolex Ranking. His season’s earnings read Rs. 13,00,000.

“I did well with the irons today even though I think I was not at my best. It was tense out there towards the end. I thought Khalin will easily win at the end but I got lucky when he double-bogeyed the last,” Shubhankar said.

“I was looking for a chip-in from the back edge of the 18th green but my caddie advised me to go for a chip-putt instead as he informed me that Khalin had just missed the fairway and was in trouble on the 18th. I immediately changed my strategy thanks to the timely advice of my caddie,” said Shubhankar, an Asian Tour rookie.

“It’s been a fantastic season for me so far and I’ll now be playing some events on the Asian Development Tour (ADT) in the next few weeks in order to get more exposure as well as world ranking points,” added Shubhankar.