NEW DELHI, Apr 19: Teenage golfer Manu Gandas turned in a grandstand finish with three birdies in last four holes on the final day to win the Usha-IGU Delhi junior golf title today.
The 16-year-old Gandas, who was third at the Usha-IGU Haryana juniors earlier, carded a final round of two-under 68 and finished at five-over 285 to earn the title by four shots.
Piyush Sangwan (70) ended second, while overnight leader Tutul Ali (75) and first round leader Rohan Rana (71) finished in a tie for third.
Sangwan totalled 289, while Tutul and Rana aggregated 290 each.
Mohan Sardar crashed to a 76 in the final round to drop to fifth at 292 and Harsh Gangwar (74) was tied at sixth with Shubham Narain (75) at 294.
Gandas, starting the final day two shots behind leader Tutul and one behind second placed Mohan Sardar, bogeyed the second hole and parred the rest of the front nine to turn in one-over 36.
With Tutul and Mohan Sardar, his playing partners carding five-over 40 for the front stretch, Gandas had already moved into lead.
On the back stretch, Gandas again played very steady golf with pars right through till the 14th by which time Tutul and Sardar had dropped further behind and Sangwan had moved into second place.
Over the last four holes, Gandas birdied the 15th, 16th and 18th and closed the issue beyond doubt.
Gandas, who topped the IGU Order of Merit last season in Category A has made a fine start, which could help him cement his place as one of the top juniors in the country.
In category B, Kartik Sharma (75) finished on top with a total of 294 and was six shots clear of second place Arjun Puri (74) at 300. Arjun Prasad (77) totalled 304, while Jaiveer Singh (77) was fourth with Saptak Talwar (74) and Karandeep Kochar (74) fifth and sixth, respectively. (PTI)
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