Yuvraj Sandhu bounced back in style after two successive playoff losses as he cantered to a thumping seven-stroke triumph on Friday for his third victory in the Digboi Masters, an INR 1 crore event, played at the Digboi Golf Links in Digboi in Assam.
Yuvraj (65-69-66-69), who enjoyed an impressive six-stroke lead after round three, shot a determined three-under 69 in round four to total 19-under 269 for the week at the landmark 25th edition of the IndianOil SERVO Masters. The 28-year-old from Chandigarh, as a result, clinched his fifth win of the season and further built on his lead in the PGTI Order of Merit.
Yuvraj, the wire-to-wire champion, secured the winning cheque of INR 15 lakh to take his season earnings to INR 1,21,67,100. Sandhu now enjoys a lead of over INR 29 lakh in the PGTI Ranking. Jamal Hossain (68-73-70-65) of Bangladesh, last year’s winner, fired the final day’s lowest score of 65 to jump six spots from his overnight tied eighth to second position at a total of 12-under 276.
Deven Bhumij of Digboi, the only local professional to make the cut, ended the week in 54th place at 10-over 298. Yuvraj Sandhu, the leader from Day One till the end, equalled his previous best of five wins in a PGTI season, a feat he achieved in 2022.
Sandhu had an early stutter on Friday when he bogeyed the second. However, he came back strong with birdies on the third and fifth and an eagle conversion from eight feet on the seventh to build an imposing eight-shot lead. Yuvraj’s bogeys on the 12th and 17th were negated by his birdies on the 15th and 16th as he sailed to a comfortable win at the end.
Yuvraj, who also holds the record for the lowest winning total of 23-under 265 in Digboi, said, “It was a pretty relaxed day as I enjoyed a big lead at the start of the round. I was trying to get to my goal of greens in regulation. But after the eagle on the seventh, I was once again in my zone and was looking to break my record of the lowest winning total in Digboi.
“Digboi will always be special for me as I won my first PGTI title here. I’m delighted to win here for the third time, and winning by a big margin is something I always cherish. “The playoff losses in the last two matches were disappointing, but I took it as a learning curve, and my team did a good job in getting me to put my head down and keep doing what I was doing well.
My team’s belief in me and all the work I’ve put into the mental side of my game helped me overcome the last two playoff losses and get back to winning ways this week,” added Yuvraj, who registered his 14th professional win on Friday. Jamal Hossain’s 65 featured an eagle and five birdies.
Jamal’s runner-up finish earned him a cheque worth INR 10 lakh and saw him climb from eighth to fifth place in the PGTI Ranking. Shaurya Bhattacharya (67), Saptak Talwar (69), and Veer Ahlawat (70) finished tied third with totals of 11-under 277. Shaurya’s tied third result lifted him from third to second position in the PGTI Ranking as his season earnings moved to INR 92,52,075.