Mithun Perera defended his title at the Standard Chartered Open after signing off with a final round of five-under-66 at the Royal Colombo Golf Club.
Perera ended the week with a total score of 22-under-262 at his home course. N Thangaraja produced a six-under-65 in round four to claim the runner-up spot at 19-under-265.
Mithun Perera (63-68-65-66), the overnight leader by two shots, made a good start with a birdie on the second hole. The 28-year-old went on to collect two more birdies on the eighth and ninth to consolidate on his lead even as all his challengers fell by the wayside. Perera sank birdies on the 14th and 18th en route to clinching his fourth title on the PGTI. The Colombo-based professional has now climbed to third place on the 2014 Rolex Rankings.
Mithun said, “I was delighted to end the week with a bogey-free round. I started well and just kept up the intensity till the end. The birdie on the 14th lifted my game as I felt I almost had it in the bag by then. It was great to win in front of my home crowd. This win is an important one since its come at the start of a new season and has thus given me loads of confidence for the tournaments to come.”
N Thangaraja (66-66-68-65) gained a position from his overnight third place after posting a 65 in round three and finally finished as the runner-up. Thangaraja’s seven birdies and one bogey helped him make it one and two for Sri Lanka on the leaderboard. He now occupies fourth place on the 2014 Rolex Rankings.
Mukesh Kumar’s (70-67-68-63) nine-under-63 was the other highlight of the day. Mukesh had a stunning run of nine birdies as he registered the day’s best score to secure third place at 16-under-268. Mukesh thus ended the tournament as the highest-placed Indian.
Indian golfers Rashid Khan (15-under-269) and Chiragh Kumar (13-under-271) secured fourth and fifth place respectively.
