Yashas Chandra from Mysuru finishes runner-up

Teenaged rookie Kshitij Naveed Kaul of Delhi, playing only his ninth event as a professional, displayed maturity way beyond his years to shoot a final round of four-under-67 that helped him register a one-shot victory at the Pune Open Golf Championship 2019 on Friday.

The 18-year-old Kaul’s (69-67-66-67) triumph at the The Poona Club Golf Course saw him close the week with a total of 15-under-269 and made him the third-youngest winner on the TATA Steel PGTI after Karandeep Kochhar and Shubhankar Sharma, both of whom won on the tour as 17-year-olds.

Mysuru’s Yashas Chandra (68-68-68-66) carded the last day’s best score of five-under-66 to finish a close second at 14-under-270 at the Rs.30 lakh event.

Kshitij Naveed Kaul, the round three joint leader, had a topsy-turvy final round as he struggled to achieve accuracy with his tee shots. However, the former India No.1 in the junior and amateur category, managed to salvage the day with his brilliant short-game.

Mysuru’s M.S. Yashas Chandra’s bogey-free 66 helped him gain two spots and finish runner-up. The 2018 PGTI Emerging Player of the Year had taken the lead on the final day when
he made his fifth birdie of the round on the 13th. He missed a hole-in-one by one foot on the 13th.

However, Yashas slowed down thereafter with pars all the way till the end. He narrowly missed a birdie on the last as his putt stopped inches from the hole. A birdie there could’ve taken him into a playoff with Kaul. Yashas took home a cash prize of Rs.3,34,950.00 for his performance in this tourney.

Bengaluru’s Syed Saqib Ahmed (70) and round three joint leader Shankar Das (72) of Kolkata took a share of third place at 10-under-274. Mysuru lad I.L. Aalaap finished 15th with a four-day aggregate score of two-under-282 (70+72+67+73).