Yuvraj Sandhu receives his trophy and cheque from Vishwa Samudra Group MD Anil Yendluri (third from left), PGTI president and event host Kapil Dev and DGC captain Vikram Seth (second from left). Also seen are Tour CEO Amandeep Johl (far right) and Col. Mohit Nasa, chairman, tournaments, DGC. Image courtesy PGTI.
By Rahul Banerji
Yuvraj Sandhu bounced back from the heartbreak of a shock loss at Jaipur last week to win the Vishwa Samudra Open in convincing fashion at the Delhi Golf Club on Friday.
A closing bogey-free 6 under par 66 set up thumping eight-shot win on 14 under 274 at the Rs 2 crore event presented by Kapil Dev, the PGTI said.
The result also sealed Sandhu’s hold on the season-ending Order of Merit race with two tournaments to go.
The Chandigarh-based Sandhu (73-69-66-66) picked up a cheque worth Rs 30 lakh to take an unassailable lead in the PGTI Ranking with season’s earnings so far of Rs 1.61 crore.
The 28-year-old also sealed his berth on the DP World Tour for next year besides matching Manu Gandas’ record of six wins in a season set in 2022.
Sandhu also matched the record for the lowest winning total at the DGC of 14 under 274 set by Viraj Madappa in 2021.
Sri Lanka’s N. Thangaraja (73-66-75-68) was a distant runner-up on 6 under 282 to take away Rs 20 lakh and move up two spots to second in the PGTI Ranking with season’s earnings of Rs 1.08 crore.
Akshay Sharma (5 under 283), Gandas (3 under 285) and Rashid Khan (2 under 286) finished third, fourth and fifth respectively.
Quick break
Sandhu set out on Friday with a one-shot lead and took early strides towards the title with birdies on the first two holes with an up and down from the bunker and a 12-foot conversion.
He added four more birdies thereafter to comfortably march to his 15th career title as the rest of the field struggled to keep pace.
Sandhu, whose 13 top-10s this season also included three runner-up finishes, said later, “The fact that I have sealed the PGTI Order of Merit title and earned my spot on the DP World Tour is yet to sink in.
“I think it will only sink in when I tee-off at the DP World Tour. I’m really excited about playing in Europe.
“Winning my sixth title of the year and at the DGC for the first time is also special. This is known as the home of Indian golf and it’s where I grew up watching my heroes win titles.
“So, winning here was always on my bucket list.
“Importantly, I took my recent narrow misses and heartbreaks as learnings and didn’t dwell too much on them.
Strong recovery
“I feel I showed a lot of grit to come back strongly after my runner-up finishes where I almost had the victory in the bag.
“Did well to go back to the drawing board and analyse my performances. This week there was also more clarity in decision-making between me and my caddie.
“I took a gamble by playing on the PGTI this year and in the process sacrificing my Asian Tour card. That gamble paid off.
“The total focus was on finishing number one in the PGTI Ranking and earning my berth on the DP World Tour. All the patience and dedication paid dividends in the end.
“I’ve had a great team that has supported me throughout and I would like to thank them including my coach and fitter Gurbaaz Mann, my trainer Lavish, my physios Gaurav and Ravinder and mental coach Rabiya.”
Also read: Merit topper Sandhu takes over Vishwa Samudra Open lead
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