Impressive Gangjee clinches title

Rahil Gangjee started as one of the favourites and proved that tag in style on the final day with a sizzling seven-under 63 to clinch the Louis Philippe Cup.

With a four-round total of 11-under 269, the two-time Asian Tour winner claimed top honours at the Prestige Golfshire Club by a margin of three shots.

On the penultimate day, Ahmedabad-based Udayan Mane (seven-under 273) and New Delhi's Rashid Khan (eight-under 272) had climbed to the top of leaderboard, but both endured poor outings on Friday to lose any chances of taking a shot at the title.

Eight birdies and a bogey laced Gangjee's round and the delighted Bengaluru golfer said: “The first day of the tournament was rusty for me and I had said I needed some practice. The second round was exactly that practice which I was longing for. The third round gave me the much-needed boost.

"Today when I started I honestly did not have much of plan in mind. Over the last year I have played the final rounds one shot at a time and I don’t play for a particular number and today wasn’t any different. I am thankful to the weather gods that except for a minor sprinkle there wasn’t much of a rain scare and that helped me stay in rhythm,” he added.

Om Prakash Chouhan was tied second with Khan, while Australian Marcus Both shared third spot with Mane.

It was a good tune-up for Khalin Joshi ahead of the TAKE Solution Masters, an Asian Tour event at Karnataka Golf Association from August 9, as he finished sixth after carding a strong six-under 274.