New Delhi, Dec 12 (IANS) A determined Yuvraj Sandhu, coming back from a heartbreaking runner-up finish in Jaipur last week, dominated proceedings with a final round of six-under 66 to register a thumping eight-shot win at the INR 2 crore Vishwa Samudra Open 2025 presented by Kapil Dev at the revered Delhi Golf Club (DGC).
The Chandigarh-based Yuvraj (73-69-66-66), who shot a second straight bogey-free 66, totaled 14-under 274 for the week. As a result, Sandhu picked up the winner’s cheque worth INR 30 lakh to take an unassailable lead in the PGTI Ranking with his season’s earnings moving to INR 1,61,67,100.
The 28-year-old Yuvraj thus emerged as the 2025 PGTI Order of Merit champion and sealed his berth on the DP World Tour for next year.
Sandhu’s impressive sixth victory of the season helped him match the PGTI record for most titles in a season set by Manu Gandas in 2022. Yuvraj also equalled the record for the lowest winning total at DGC (14-under 274) set by Viraj Madappa in 2021.
N Thangaraja (73-66-75-68) of Sri Lanka finished a distant runner-up at six-under 282 following his last round of 68. Thangaraja collected the runners-up cheque of INR 20 lakh to move up two spots to second place in the PGTI Ranking with his season’s earnings reading INR 1,08,57,488.
Akshay Sharma (five-under 283), Manu Gandas (three-under 285) and Rashid Khan (two-under 286) finished third, fourth and fifth respectively.
Yuvraj Sandhu, who began the day with a one-shot lead, made early strides towards the title with birdies on the first two holes where he made an up and down from the bunker and a 12-feet conversion. Yuvraj went on to add four more birdies thereafter to comfortably march to his 15th career title as the rest of the field struggled to keep pace with him.
Yuvraj, whose 13 top-10s this season also included three runner-up finishes, said, “The fact that I have sealed the PGTI Order of Merit title and earned my spot on the DP World Tour is yet to sink in. I think it will only sink in when I tee-off at the DP World Tour. I’m really excited about playing in Europe.
“Winning my sixth title of the year and winning at DGC for the first time is also special. DGC is known as the home of Indian golf and it’s where I grew up watching my golfing heroes win titles. So, winning here was always on my bucket list.
“Importantly, I took my recent narrow misses and heartbreaks as learnings and didn’t dwell too much on them. I feel I showed a lot of grit to come back strongly after my disappointing runner-up finishes where I almost had the victory in the bag. I did well to go back to the drawing board and analyze my performances. This week there was also more clarity in decision-making between me and my caddie.
“I took a gamble by playing on the PGTI this year and in the process sacrificing my Asian Tour card. That gamble paid off for me. I was totally focused on finishing number one in the PGTI Ranking and earning my berth on the DP World Tour. All the patience and dedication paid dividends in the end.
“I’ve had a great team that has supported me throughout and I would like to thank them including my coach and fitter Gurbaaz Mann, my trainer Lavish, my physios Gaurav and Ravinder and my mental coach Rabiya.”
--IANS
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