Patna’s Aman Raj closed out the week with a stoic final-round effort of one-over 73 to bag the Gujarat Open Golf Championship 2023 title at a tournament total of 11-under 277 at the Kalhaar Blues & Greens Golf Club in Ahmedabad on Saturday.

The 27-year-old Aman (66-68-70-73), who was at the top of the leaderboard from the first round till the end, thus emerged wire-to-wire winner at the Rs. 1 crore event. The win, Aman’s second, pushed him up from 11th to 2nd position in TATA Steel PGTI Rankings after he took home the winning prize of Rs. 15,00,000.

Mysuru-based rookie Aryan Roopa Anand (71-69-69-69), the 2023 PGTI Q School winner, playing only his second event as a professional, finished a creditable second at 10-under 278 following a last round of 69 to continue his fine form and move up from 23rd to sixth spot in the PGTI’s merit list.

Aryan, who was overnight third and five shots off the lead, produced six birdies and three bogeys on the final day to follow up his 10th-place finish in Kolkata with another top-notch result in Ahmedabad. The 21-year-old Aryan made three long conversions on Saturday and his last birdie came on the 13th. Aryan said, “I’m very pleased with the good start to my pro career, having posted top-10s in my first two events and being in contention today. These good performances have helped me seal my card for next year so that’s something I don’t need to worry about now.”