Ashok Kumar wins DLF Masters golf championship
Ashok Kumar won the DLF Masters golf championship that took place in Gurgaon on Sunday. Having played professional golf for eight years now, Kumar really struck it rich as he took the Rs. 95 Lakh prize money home. This was the biggest win of his professional
career and this was the first time for a tour in India to have such a huge prize purse.
He was going against the defending champion Ganjeet Bhullar. Ashok was leading by eight strokes after three rounds. He waited for over two hours at the DLF Golf and Country Club. The players were excited for the game and they didn’t let the bad weather interfere
in the final day of such an important event. The rain didn’t bring down anyone’s spirit, especially not Ashok’s. The only thing however that it did do was reduce the play to 54 holes.
The 28 year old player achieved consecutive rounds of 65. He said that his strategy for the final round was different than how he played in the rounds before.
“I wanted to reach the greens in regulation and settle for pars without trying too hard for birdies. I did not want to take any undue risks. I knew I had done well enough to win the title, so wanted to keep it simple on the final day,” said Ashok. Well simple
really works for you Ashok. Along with the prize money, the Delhi player also claimed the Rs. 15,35,675 winner’s cheque.
This lucky break hoisted Ashok Kumar to top of the Rolex rankings ahead of Mukesh Kumar. Mukesh was leading the rankings before Ashok’s win. Right now Mukesh’s total winnings are up to Rs. 22,59,240 whereas Ashok has reached till Rs.24,15,392.
Kumar hadn’t played golf for four months due to an injury on the final day of the Aamby Valley event in May. He hurt his hand and hence needed to wait until he was in a proper playing position again. Ashok plans on playing in Bangalore and Mumbai in the
coming weeks in order to make his position firm on number one. All the top Indian players are really trying to do well in the championships and tours. All this work could also be for the Singapore Open that is going to take place later in the year. The top
four players ranked on the PGTI Tour will qualify to play in Singapore.
Ashok says that after he came back to professional golf at Chandigarh, he was really battling to perform as good as can. The second day he was here, Ashok decided to change the club fittings and the champion really thinks that PING did a good job. Ping equipment
is used all around the world and is a known company in the golfing world.
Kumar hit birdies in both rounds after that. He says that his confidence is where it was during his peak time four years ago. Ashok is an important player in the PGTI. The full name of the tour is Professional Golf tour for men based in India. The tour was
created in 2006 as the next big thing after Indian PGA Golf tour. The Indian PGA Golf Tour ran from 1997 to 2006. This tour is a platform for players to qualify for other tours that are on a higher level.
The winner of the tour also acknowledged fellow golfer Vinod Kumar who let Ashok use his driver. Ashok said that he has sorted out the problems he was experiencing with his own equipment. Now that everything’s in line for Ashok, he is eager to make up for
the lost time.
For some reason, last year’s runner up Anirban Lahiri who was also the 2009 Roles Rankings champion and C. Muniyappa who is the Indian Open champion did not play on the final day. Lahiri however did finish third place and Muniyappa tied the fourth place
with Ajeetest Sandhu.
Players such as Ashok Kumar and Anirban Lahiri have amazing talent and are really doing their part in representing the sport in India. Golf is becoming an increasingly popular sport in the country. With so much talent in the South Asia, it is also a possibility
for PGTI tour to become an important event in the golfing world in a few years.
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