Dhruv Sheoran claims maiden title at Chennai Pro Championship

Gurugram’s Dhruv Sheoran produced a solid three-under 69 in the final round of the Rs 50 lakh Chennai Pro Championship to secure his maiden title on the PGTI tour here on Friday.

Dhruv, a two-time winner on the PGTI Feeder Tour in 2018, totaled 16-under 272 for the week to win with a comfortable three-stroke margin at the TNGF Cosmo Golf Course.

Dhruv (69-67-67-69) bagged a winning cheque worth Rs 7.5 lakh on Friday that propelled him from 23rd to 14th position in the TATA Steel PGTI Ranking.

Manu Gandas (67-68-68-72), another Gurugram-based professional, brought in a card of 72 in round four to finish runner-up for the second week in succession.

Manu, who totaled 13-under 275 for the week and picked up a cheque of Rs 5 lakh for his effort, consolidated himself in second position in the PGTI Order of Merit behind Veer Ahlawat.

Bangladesh’s Badal Hossain (70-68-71-67) claimed sole third place, his best finish on the PGTI, thanks to his excellent last round of 67. Badal’s total read 12-under 276.

Dhruv, who was the overnight joint leader along with Manu, began day four with a flourish as he sank a 12-footer for eagle on the first and landed his approach within inches for a birdie on the third to establish an early lead.

The 2017 PGTI Qualifying School winner then had a rough ride as he pulled his tee shots into the rough and the trees for bogeys on the fifth and eighth respectively.

Dhruv then steadied the ship with pars all the way till the 15th not letting his lead slip away at any point. He finally rose to the occasion with birdies on the 16th and 18th, both Par-5s, finding the green in two shots on both occasions.

Dhruv, who let out a huge roar in celebration soon after making his winning putt, said, "All these years I always felt like I had the potential to win on the tour but somehow this game plays tricks on your mind, it keeps you humble.

"I’ve been humble thinking that my day will come soon. So, I feel really blessed that it finally did happen for me today." Dhruv said he used to find it difficult to control his nerves but mental training helped to keep his composure.

"By nature, I’m a very emotional person so it was always a challenging task for me to stay in the present tense and even small setbacks on the course used to affect me.

"But over a period of time through meditative practices, breathing exercises and mental training I’ve been able to make a huge improvement on that front.

"For instance, in the past I came very close to winning in Jaipur once, but couldn’t control my nerves on that occasion. However, today I was able to put behind the disappointment of the two bogeys on the front-nine and executed my plan well.

After being eight-under through two rounds, I had set myself a target of 16-under for the week and importantly I was able to achieve that. The terrific tee shot on the Par-3 17th led to a par. That’s when I knew that I had the title in the bag." Manu, the co-leader on the first three days, settled for second place after delivering a round that featured three birdies, a bogey and a double-bogey.

Badal Hossain posed a major threat to leader Dhruv on Friday when he drained six birdies on the first 13 holes. However, three dropped shots on the 14th and 15th blew away his chances and he couldn’t pose a challenge for the title despite his birdies on the next two holes.

Delhi’s Sachin Baisoya too shot a fourth round of 67 to clinch fourth place at 11-under 277.

Chennai-based professional S Prasanth finished tied 49th at seven-over 295.