Shivendra Sisodia wins at Lucknow

Sept 11, 2014. Shivendra Singh Sisodia of Delhi bagged his maiden title after a roller-coaster final round at the PGTI Feeder Tour event at Lucknow Golf Club on Thursday. Sisodia came home the winner with an even-par-70 in round three that took his total score to six-under-204. Lucknow’s Sanjeev Kumar finished as the runner-up at his home course with a four-under-206 total.

Shivendra Singh Sisodia (67-67-70), who enjoyed a three-shot lead going into the final round, made a birdie on the third and a bogey on the sixth before seizing the initiative with a fantastic hole-in-one on the eighth. He followed that up with a birdie on the ninth to take control of the match. Just when Shivendra seemed to be coasting to a comfortable victory, the 25-year-old had a disastrous 10th hole that changed the equations.

Sisodia first hit it out of bounds on the 10th then found the trees and the bunker and finally hit it over the green to drop a demoralizing quadruple bogey. It just got worse for him with another poor bunker shot on the 12th that led to a bogey. After 14 holes Shivendra and Lucknow’s Manoj Kumar were on level terms. However, Shivendra displayed nerves of steel to land the ball within five feet on the 15th and 16th to garner two crucial birdies and regain the sole lead. The golfer from the Aravalli Golf Club, Faridabad, sealed the title after Manoj hit it out of bounds on the 18th and fell out of the race with a triple bogey.

Sisodia said, “I’m delighted with my strong comeback. I almost squandered my opportunity after a disastrous start to the back-nine. I’m quite pleased that I managed to pull it back with some brilliant wedge shots despite being under tremendous pressure. The 15th and 16th holes were the turning point of the day. The hole-in-one was a perfect half 3-wood shot that bounced once and rolled in. I couldn’t believe my luck when I saw it go in as I was doubtful about my club selection on that hole.

“This is only my second season as a professional and therefore the win is a huge morale-booster. It has lifted me from 26th position to fifth place in the Feeder Tour Order of Merit. I would like to thank Mr. Yash Chaturvedi, a member of TERI Golf Club in Gurgaon, who has been a great source of support.”

It turned out to be a good week for the Lucknow golfers as three of them Sanjeev Kumar (four-under-206), Sanjay Kumar (three-under-207) and Manoj Kumar (two-under-208), finished second, third and fourth respectively.

Runner-up Sanjeev Kumar, who shot scores of 69, 69 and 68, climbed from eighth to third place on the Feeder Tour Order of Merit.

Chandigarh’s Akshay Sharma and Gulfam of Delhi shared fifth place at one-under-209.

Akshay continues to lead the Order of Merit with earnings of Rs. 2,15,280 with one event remaining in the season. Gulfam is placed second in the merit list with earnings of Rs. 1,74,540.

Lucknow’s Vijay Kumar took a share of 29th place at 11-over-221.