Gaganjeet Bhullar lived up to his reputation of being the pre-tournament favourite as he saw it home with an error-free final round of six-under 66 to triumph by a solitary shot at the TATA Steel PGTI’s season-ending TATA Steel Tour Championship 2023, an INR 3 crore event at the Beldih and Golmuri Golf Courses in Jamshedpur.
Related: A twist of street food to Day 3 of the Tata Steel Tour Championship
Bhullar (64-66-67-66), who won the TATA Steel Tour Championship for the second time following his previous victory in 2020, totaled 25-under 263 for the week to bag INR 45 lakh, the biggest winner’s cheque on the PGTI. It was the lowest winning total at the TATA Steel Tour Championship as Bhullar improved upon his 24-under 264 from the 2020 edition.
View this post on Instagram
Rahil Gangjee (70-62-65-67) finished runner-up at 24-under 264 after firing a 67 in the last round. Gangjee’s prize money cheque of INR 30 lakh moved him up 26 spots in the PGTI Order of Merit as he ended the year in sixth place.
Angad Cheema (66-66-65-68) had a creditable third place finish at 23-under 265 in Jamshedpur. Cheema gained four spots on the money list to end the year in fifth place.
Om Prakash Chouhan (72-68-65-68) took the coveted No. 1 spot in the TATA Steel PGTI Ranking (PGTI Order of Merit) after finishing tied 10th at 15-under 273 at the Tour Championship this week.
View this post on Instagram
The 37-year-old Chouhan closed the 2023 season with record earnings of INR 1,18,26,059, the highest ever for a PGTI season, to finish number one in the money list by a fair distance. Chouhan broke the previous record of season’s earnings of INR 88,50,688, set by Manu Gandas in 2022.
Chouhan won four titles and posted eight other top-10s this season. He thus became the first player to breach the INR 1 crore mark in season’s earnings in a single season on the PGTI. As a result of his Order of Merit triumph, Chouhan has now earned himself a card on the DP World Tour for the 2024 season.
Aman Raj finished second on the PGTI Ranking with season’s earnings of INR 91,90,745. Aman took tied seventh place at 16-under 272 in Jamshedpur.
Bhullar, a 12-time international winner, ended up as the wire-to-wire winner in Jamshedpur, and his 12th PGTI win came as a result of an eagle and four birdies on Sunday. Bhullar accumulated three birdies on the front-nine with two up and downs and a brilliant tee shot on the par-3 seventh that landed one foot from the hole.
The 35-year-old further strengthened his claim to the title after finding the par-5 12th green in two shots that set up an eagle conversion for him. Bhullar’s final birdie came on the 15th where he landed his approach to four feet.
View this post on Instagram
Bhullar, who looked unruffled through the day, said, “I was focused on winning and was solid today from tee to green. It was all about repeating what I had done in the previous three rounds. I executed my plans well today and played some great iron and wedge shots. The two-shot swing in my favour on the 14th and 15th holes was probably the turning point today.”
Gangjee enjoyed a two-shot lead over Bhullar after the first 13 holes thanks to his eight birdies and a bogey. However, he had a poor final stretch as he dropped two bogeys over the last five holes that swung the match back into Bhullar’s favour. Gangjee left his five-feet par-putt on the 17th just one roll short. It was his best finish of the season.
Cheema’s fourth round of 68 featured an eagle, five birdies, a bogey and a double-bogey. Cheema thus registered his second top-3 finish of the year.
Yuvraj Singh Sandhu’s nine-under 63 was the day’s best score and helped him finish fourth at 20-under 268.
Varun Chopra PGTI Emerging Player of the Year
Varun Chopra of the United States won the PGTI Emerging Player of the Year title with season’s earnings of INR 33,15,577, the highest among the rookies. Chopra, who claimed tied 14th place at 14-under 274 at the season-ending event, secured a creditable 15th position on the PGTI Order of Merit as a result of four top-10s in the season including two runner-up finishes.
, who won TATA Steel Tour Championship for the second time after 2020, totaled 25-under 263 for the week.){kind=link}