One of India’s most prodigious talents, the 27 year old Bangalorean, Chikkarangappa’s staged a come-from-behind win at the ₹30 lakh Gujarat Open Golf Championship held at Kalhaar Blues & Greens, Ahmedabad. The 7,400 yard, par-72 Jack Nicklaus designed course provided a lot of drama in the final round and proved a stern test as the winning score was only 9 under par for 72 holes. Incidentally Chikka’s last win came in Delhi back in April 2019.
Chikkarangappa S at the prize presentation
With the win, Chikkarangappa S. now moves to second on the PGTI Order of Merit, replacing Udayan Mane at ₹28 lakhs and just around 8 lakhs short of the current leader from Chandigarh, Karandeep Kochhar, who finished tied-ninth with his scores of 69-70-76-72 (1-under 287).
Chikkarangappa earned five Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points to move to 345th from 434th earlier, making him the third best Indian golfer on the list.
The win is critical for the Bengaluru golfer as the Olympic qualifying dates are almost here and only two top players from a country will get to represent their proud flags.
Other notable players at the event included Asian Tour winner, Viraj Madappa, who finished runner-up at 6-under 282, European Tour winner, SSP Chawrasia finished third at 5-under 283, Japan Golf Tour winner, Rahil Gangjee finished tied-6th at 3-under 285, Asian Tour winners Khalin Joshi and Rashid Khan finished 11th and 13th, with total scores of even-par 288 and 2-over 290 respectively.