Piyush Sangwan had reserved his best for the last as the Gurgaon boy emerged victorious in the Toyota-IGU Southern Indian Juniors Golf Championship here on Friday.
The 14-year-old, who has posted three consecutive Category B seond-place finishes this season, finally broke through in splendid fashion, firing a brilliant three-under 69 to capture the overall title by two shots after signing off with a total of 294 at the Karnataka Golf Association.
Shubhankar Sharma, who had a great chance of stealing the crown from Sangwan after he bogeyed the final hole, could only watch in horror as his tee shot ricocheted off a lamp post into water.
Sharma’s misery was complete when he finished with a double bogey which marred an otherwise fine level-par 72 (296).
Viraj Madappa (300) took third place following a 73 while overnight leader Arjun Singh shot a disastrous 79 to end tied fourth along with Aman Raj (77) at 302.
Starting the day at tied third along with Madappa, Sangwan made his intentions clear right away when he picked a stroke on the par-4 first hole. Hitting the ball beautifully, the teenager showed that he has learnt his lessons on the difficult course.
After parring the remaining seven holes, he took the turn on a happy note, sinking a three-footer for birdie on the ninth.
He picked another shot on the 10th before going four-under on the 16th with a superb 20-footer birdie on the 16th. Leading by a shot and appearing in control, Sangwan bogeyed the par-4 18th hole after finding the greenside bunker with his second shot.
However, to his fortune, Sharma failed to cash in on the opportunity, leaving him with all the spoils.
Leading scores (after 72 holes): Category A&B: 294: Piyush Sangwan (73, 76, 76, 69); 296: Shubhankar Sharma (75, 76, 73, 72); 300: Viraj Madappa (74, 77, 76, 73); 302: Aman Raj (80, 74, 71, 77), Arjun Singh (77, 75, 71, 79); 303: Prakhar Asawa (74, 83, 72, 74); 307: Roshan Raj (81, 79, 71, 76).
Category B: 294: Piyush Sangwan; 300: Viraj Madappa; 303: Prakhar Asawa; 312: Mohan Sardar (76, 72, 79, 85); 315: Tanvir Kahlon (75, 80, 78, 82).