Chennai Open 2025: Thangaraja triumphs with a hard-fought 73 on final day

Chennai, Sep 19 (IANS) Sri Lankan N. Thangaraja triumphed with a hard-fought one-over 73 on the final day of the Chennai Open 2025, an Rs 1 crore event, played at the Cosmo TNGF Golf Course in Chennai. N. Thangaraja (69-66-63-73), the overnight leader by one shot, came through by one stroke on a high-scoring last day as he totalled 17-under 271 for the week.

The 44-year-old Colombo resident Thangaraja’s sixth PGTI win and second victory of the season saw him collect the winning prize of INR 15 lakh, which lifted him from 12th to sixth position in the 2025 PGTI Order of Merit.

The trio of Noida’s Amardeep Malik (68-71-67-66), who closed the day with an eagle, Delhi’s Shaurya Bhattacharya (67-65-69-71) and Gurugram’s Manu Gandas (66-68-65-73), finished joint runners-up at a total of 16-under 272. Honey Baisoya (72) of the DLF Golf & Country Club, Gurugram, came in fifth at 14-under 274.

Thangaraja made a slow start to the day with five pars followed by a bogey on the sixth hole, even as his nearest rivals, Shaurya Bhattacharya and Manu Gandas, made early gains. Thanga, however, was quite consistent thereafter despite the tough pin positions, as he kept hitting the middle of the greens and making two-putts for pars all the way till the 14th.

Thanga then hit a top-notch tee shot on the Par-3 15th and followed that up with a crucial five-foot birdie conversion to rise as the top contender once again. With his closest rivals losing momentum towards the end, Thanga’s bogey on the 16th did not affect him too much as he rolled in the all-important six-foot par putt for victory on the 18th hole.

Thangaraja, the runner-up at the 2022 Chennai Open, also played at Cosmo TNGF Golf Course, said, “Today the pin positions were the toughest that we have had this week, and that explains the high scores. I’m happy that I could finally win at one of my favourite courses, where I had come close to winning three years back.

“I just stuck to my game plan of finding the greens and making two-putts to pick up pars because I knew that scoring birdies would not be easy today. After the birdie on the 15th, I gained in confidence and somehow knew that it would be my day. Now with two wins under my belt this season, I’m setting myself even bigger targets for the remainder of the season.”

Amardeep Malik shot the day’s joint lowest score of 66, featuring a closing hole eagle to register his second runner-up finish of the season.

Shaurya Bhattacharya began the day with a bang, making birdies on his first four holes, but slipped out of contention as a result of a string of bogeys thereafter that saw him post a 71. Manu Gandas also made a good start but stumbled from the eighth hole onwards to return a 73.

--IANS

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