Ajeetesh Sandhu pips Rashid Khan to lift Jeev Milkha Singh tournament title
Chandigarh’s Ajeetesh Sandhu pipped Delhi’s Rashid Khan for the title in a photo-finish on the final day of the Jeev Milkha Singh Invitational golf tournament on Sunday. Playing at his home course, Ajeetesh made a great comeback at the Chandigarh Golf Club to bag his fourth title on the PGTI tour.
Ajeetesh came through a marathon play-off — after the regulation play — that lasted four extra holes to win a classic contest and collect the winning cheque worth Rs. 24,24,750 that catapulted him from 48th to the second position in the TATA Steel PGTI Order of Merit. Rashid, meanwhile, extended his lead to over Rs 34 lakhs in the PGTI’s money list — his earnings for 2019 now stand at a whopping Rs. 61,21,653. The two-headed into Sunday for the play-off after ending up with identical totals at the end of round three — Ajeetesh with 66-69-67-66 and Rashid with 71-64-67-66.
“It has been a really solid week for me. I’m delighted to win on my home turf and in front of my home crowd. It’s something I’ve always dreamt of,” Ajeetesh told PTI.
“The three birdies on the seventh, eight and ninth were the key to my round as they kept me in the game. The long birdie conversions on the 14th and 17th also played a part in getting me within striking distance of the title,” Ajeetesh added.
In the end, it turned out to be the lowest winning score at the Chandigarh Golf Club, improving on Rahil Gangjee’s 13-under-275 at the PGTI Players Championship in 2013. Local lads Karandeep Kochhar took third place at 17-under-271 after a flawless 68 in round four, while Abhijit Singh Chadha matched the course record score of eight-under-64 to take a share of 15th place at seven-under-281.