Jeev wins in Colombo; Pukhraj claims IGPL Order of Merit, gets entry to International Series

Colombo, Dec 25 (PTI) India's golf legend Jeev Milkha Singh ended a 13-year title drought after securing the IGPL Invitational Sri Lanka with a perfect finish to the inaugural season of the IGPL here on Thursday.

The 54-year-old, who has not won a pro event since 2012, gave his young rivals a perfect lesson, producing a closing six-under 65 to total 15-under to outwit Aryan Roopa Anand (68) by one shot.

"I had never played in Sri Lanka before. It is an emotional moment for me. Because this is where my parents fell in love and began their relationship," said an emotional Jeev, wiping his tears away.

"My mother played volleyball and my father was here for athletics. So, this is where their journey together began.

"We lost them in 2021 and I lost my will to play but a little later in 2022 I decided I would play for them and win. I hope today's win will put a smile on their faces." Aryan needing an eagle on the Par-4 18th to force a play-off managed only a birdie and was sole second at 14-under.

As Jeev won his maiden IGPL title, Pukhraj Singh Gill, despite finishing T-12th, won the IGPL Order of Merit by a razor thin margin over Aman Raj and Gaganjeet Bhullar.

After 11 events carrying Rs 1.5 crore prize purse with Rs 22.50 lakh for the winner, Pukhraj was less than Rs 9,000 ahead of Aman Raj.

Starting two shots behind Aryan, Jeev, who had a modest second day, putted superbly to add to his splendid iron play that saw him hit his approaches to inside 5-10 feet.

At one stage he had five birdies in a row and seven in a span of nine holes between the sixth and the 14th on the Royal Colombo Golf Course greens.

Jeev's son, Harjai was one of the amateur players in the field. Watching the two in action was Jeev's wife, Kudrat, who of late has been accompanying her son for junior and amateur events. Harjai was T-22nd.

Jeev's last pro win was at the 2012 Scottish Open. In his career, Jeev's successes include four on the European Tour, four on the Japan Tour and six on the Asian Tour. One of the Asian Tour wins was co-sanctioned with the European Tour.

Karandeep Kochhar (65), who has already sealed his 2026 Asian Tour berth by finishing second on Asian Development Tour, was sole third at 12-under, while SSP Chawrasia (69) dropped a late bogey to finish fourth at 11-under.

Gaganjeet Bhullar (68), who kick-started the IGPL Tour with two wins and then won another when he returned for a third start, was fifth at 10-under.

Local amateur Kaya Daluwatte (71), who had held a 3-shot lead at one stage in the third round, shot even par and finished sixth at 9-under.

Veer Ganapathy, who was one of the big finds of the inaugural IGPL season, was seventh at nine-under. He shot under par on all three days.

Four players including Aman Raj (71), who was in the running for the IGPL Order of Merit, was tied eighth with Raghav Chugh (63), Pranavi Urs (66), and Kapil Kumar (68) at 8-under.

Pranavi, winner of the IGPL Mumbai, was the top woman finisher at Tied-8th at 8-under.

Pukhraj (67), the Order of Merit champion at the inaugural IGPL, registered his maiden professional win at IGPL Jamshedpur. He missed a 4-foot birdie at his final hole and finished Tied-12th with Chiragh Kumar (72).

Gill's benefits include a spot on USD 2 million International Series in India early next year, and he will also get a spot in an event with Open Qualifying berths on the Asian Tour.

Bhullar, who won in his first three starts, earned Rs 81,30,000 to be third.

Pranavi, with Rs 34,84,687, was the top woman pro earner of the season. PTI ATK SSC SSC