Visakhapatnam: Chandigarh golfer Angad Cheema earned a just reward for his consistency this season after he kept his nerve to prevail in a pulsating playoff against Aman Raj of Patna, ending an 11-year wait for his second PGTI title in the Vizag Open 2024 played at the East Point Golf Club (EPGC) on Saturday.
Angad Cheema (69-61-70-68), the overnight leader by three shots, struck a three-under 68 in the final round to end up with a tournament total of 16-under 268.
Cheema, who had posted six previous top-10s in the season including two runner-up finishes, had company at the top of the leaderboard after a flurry of birdies by Aman Raj (66-68-69-65) towards the end of the round saw the latter deliver the day’s best score of six-under 65 that drew him level with Angad at 16-under and took the match into a playoff. Cheema converted an eight-feet birdie putt to win the playoff and thus picked up the winning cheque worth INR 15 lakh that pushed him up from fourth to third in the TATA Steel PGTI Ranking.
Bengaluru’s Aryan Roopa Anand (67) and Gurugram’s Kartik Sharma (70) finished a distant tied third at a total of 10-under 274.
Cheema said, “It’s a great relief and a monkey off my back to finally win after so long because I had come close to victory on so many occasions in recent years and had not closed it out. I’m now looking forward to bigger things.” IANS
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