![\"Chikkarangappa](\"images\/golf\/Chikkarangappa-Take-Solution.jpg\")
Bengaluru: Reigning Rolex Ranking champion Chikkarangappa S survived a late surge from fellow Bengalurean Rahil Gangjee before prevailing in a close contest at the inaugural TAKE Open Golf Championship at the Karnataka Golf Association (KGA) course. Chikka ended the Rs. 1 crore PGTI event with a persistent final round of one-under-71 that took his tournament tally to 13-under-275.<\/p>\n
Rahil Gangjee, tied for the lead till the 16th hole, finished a creditable second at 12-under-276 courtesy his final round of four-under-68.<\/p>\n
Home boy Chikkarangappa (69-67-68-71), the overnight leader by three, came up with another unwavering effort at the world-class KGA course to seal his 10th professional title which also accounted for his second win of the current PGTI season.<\/p>\n
The 23-year-old Asian Tour regular bagged a handsome cheque of Rs. 15 lakh for his victory and as a result has now zoomed into first position in the Rolex Ranking, taking a leap of 15 places. His season’s earnings stand at Rs. 24,06,640.<\/p>\n
Chikka looked set to drive home the advantage when he was two-under for the day through 11 holes. He had holed a 40-footer on the seventh and played a magnificent bunker shot on the 11th for birdies on both holes.<\/p>\n
However, it was around this time that Rahil Gangjee (68-70-70-68), who was tied fourth and four off the lead after round three, started making a move.<\/p>\n
Gangjee charged into contention as he caught up with Chikka after birdies on the 11th, 14th and 15th holes. The former Asian Tour winner missed an eagle by a whisker on the 11th and made a long conversion on the 14th.<\/p>\n
Chikka, who had dropped a bogey on the 14th, survived some anxious moments on the last stretch as he recovered from a tough spot on the 17th salvaging a par with a tremendous chip.<\/p>\n
A poor chip by Gangjee, who was playing one group ahead of Chikka, on the 17th, led to a bogey for him and handed the sole lead back to Chikka. Finally, it was a four-foot par conversion on the 18th that saw Chikka come through as the champion.<\/p>\n
Chikka, who recently sealed his Asian Tour card, said, “It’s been a satisfying win since I was mentally and physically exhausted coming into the last round, having played four weeks in a row. The last four weeks had taken a toll on me as I was in contention through all these events. My energy levels were low today so I kept telling my caddie to push me to play better.<\/p>\n
“I had a bad stretch from the 12th to the 14th where I was not reading the lines well. I then had a nervous last few holes as Rahil made a charge. I got lucky when he bogeyed the 17th. I then decided to play regulation golf. The brilliant chip that set up a par for me on the 17th turned out to be crucial as it kept me ahead.<\/p>\n
“This win has brought me back into contention for the Rolex Player of the Year title. I’d love to defend my Rolex Ranking title this year,” added Chikka.<\/p>\n
Gangjee, the runner-up, said, “I wasn’t watching the leaderboard but I knew that I had to keep at it till the end since Chikka has been in hot form of late and wouldn’t let go of the lead easily. I enjoyed a superb stretch from the 11th to the 16th. But I missed an important birdie opportunity on the 16th and also got it wrong with my chip shot on the 17th.<\/p>\n
“The miss on the 16th turned out to be decisive at the end. Nonetheless, it was a good comeback on the final day,” added Rahil, who recently moved base from Kolkata to Bengaluru.<\/p>\n
Indian star Jyoti Randhawa shot the day’s joint best score of 67 to grab a share of third place along with Sri Lankan Anura Rohana (69) and Panchkula’s Shubhankar Sharma (71) at 10-under-278. Shubhankar has now moved into second position in the Rolex Ranking with season’s earnings of Rs. 21,42,513.<\/p>\n
Bengaluru’s Jaibir Singh took the prize for the best performance by an amateur as he claimed tied sixth place at eight-under-280 along with Delhi’s Chiragh Kumar.<\/p>\n
Sanjay Kumar of Lucknow had a hole-in-one on the eighth during his final round of 72. He finished tied 10th at six-under-282.<\/p>\n
Fifteen-year-old amateur Aadil Bedi of Chandigarh, making his first appearance in a professional event, shot a final round of 73 to finish tied 51st at 10-over-298.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Bengaluru: Reigning Rolex Ranking champion Chikkarangappa S survived a late surge from fellow Bengalurean Rahil Gangjee before prevailing in a close contest at the inaugural TAKE Open Golf Championship at the Karnataka Golf Association (KGA) course. Chikka ended the Rs. 1 crore PGTI event with a persistent final round of one-under-71 that took his tournament tally to 13-under-275.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[11411,12943,466,1635,509,13356,18451],"class_list":["post-29556","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-golf-golf","tag-chikkarangappa-s","tag-golf-news","tag-indian-sports-news","tag-karnataka-golf-association","tag-rahil-gangjee","tag-rolex-ranking","tag-take-open-golf-championship"],"yoast_head":"\n