The season-ender Tata Steel Tour Championship had many contenders in the fray at the Golmuri golf course on Sunday.
But it was the Pune-based Udayan Mane’s steely resolve that helped him triumph at the Rs 1.5 crore event — by a slim one-shot margin.
Mane’s (67-66-64-65) determined final round effort of seven-under-65 saw him establish a new professional golf tour of India (PGTI) record for the lowest tournament total as he closed the week with a jaw-dropping 26-under-262.
It was Mane’s eighth professional title and his second win on the PGTI this season.
The win has catapulted Mane from ninth to third place in the final PGTI Order of Merit for the current year.
He was awarded an impressive winning cheque worth Rs 22,50,000.
Calcutta golfer S.S.P. Chawrasia (63-67-65-68), who was leading by two shots till the 14th hole, carded a 68 on day four and had to settle for the second place.
He finished with another outstanding total score of 25-under-263.
Aman Raj of Patna, with 71 points, ended the week in a joint third place at 23-under-265 along with Delhi’s Chiragh Kumar with 67 points. Aman had been heading the tally at the end of the third round.
Mane, overnight fourth and three off the lead, made early gains on Sunday when he sank birdie-eagle on the third and fourth to raise his title hopes.
The 6-foot-4-inch tall and burly golfer drove the green on the par-4 fourth before knocking in a 24 feet putt.
Mane made further inroads with birdies on the seventh and 11th, thanks to his accuracy. He had a quiet time over the next five holes before making the all-important birdie conversion from 10 feet on the 17th that helped him draw level for the lead with Chawrasia. Mane surged ahead with a chip-putt birdie on the 18th for an error-free 65 to set the mark at 26-under.
Four-time European Tour winner Chawrasia, playing in the leader group, needed a 12-feet birdie conversion on the last hole to take the match into a play-off.
But he missed, Mane clinching the trophy with a record total that eclipsed the previous best PGTI tournament total of 24-under fired by Anirban Lahiri (Aamby Valley, 2010), Shubhankar Sharma (Eagleton, 2016) and Rashid Khan (Chittagong, 2019).