November 04, 2016: Can you count to nine? Amateur golfer Karandeep Kochhar fired nine remarkable birdies in the final round of the PGTI Players Championship to become the first amateur ever to win a PGTI title. The precociously talented 17 year old from Chandigarh underlined his potential with a sensational final round 62 to trounce a seasoned field of professional golfers by a handsome three stroke margin. Karandeep Kochhar posted scores of 66-68-62 to clinch victory ahead of Om Prakash Chouhan.
Overnight leader Digvijay Singh was left to take a consolation tied third, after settling for an even 70 on Friday. He was tied in third with another promising talent, Khalin Joshi, who made 68. The two men ended the week at 10-under 200.
Karandeep Kochhar shot four birdies and a bogey at the 8th, taking 31 strokes to navigate the outward stretch of nine holes.
Karandeep Kochhar made five birdies in the first seven holes on his way to the clubhouse to stamp his authority over the course in Tollygunge. He left grown men gaping in wonderment even as he soared into the clouds with a performance that will be remembered for long.
Karandeep Kochhar has been marked for big things, having topped the rankings in each of the junior categories on the IGU circuit, but few if any may have anticipated such an early victory on the PGTI Tour.
Om Prakash Chouhan kept his slate clean for a terrific 64. It may have been adequate on most other days to hand him yet another victory on the PGTI circuit.
But he was overshadowed by the remarkable performance of Karandeep Kochhar. OP, as he is fondly called, made four birdies on the front nine, before adding two more on the return stretch. Om Prakash Chouhan signed off with an overall score of 11-under 199, three behind the 14-under total of Karandeep Kochhar.
Digvijay Singh made three birdies but his effort was offset by bogeys at the 3rd, 9th and 16th holes. Khalin Joshi suffered a stutter when he made bogey at the fifth, but recovered well. He added three birdies to finish the week at 10-under 200.
Shamim Khan decorated his set of five birdies with a brilliant eagle at the par-4 14th hole. His final round score of 64 helped him tie for fifth with M Dharma.
Remarkably, even M Dharma made 64 despite a bogey at the third hole which dropped him over par for the round initially. M Dharma made his birdies in clusters – making a hat-trick of them from the sixth hole before adding four straight from the 13th hole.
Md. Zamal Hossain Mollah (65) and Shankar Das (69) tied for seventh place at 7-under 2013, just one stroke behind Shamim and Dharma.
Udayan Mane, Abhinav Lohan and Veer Ahlawat fired 65, 67 and 67 respectively to tie in ninth at 6-under 204.
