Calcutta, Feb. 28 :
Calcutta, Feb. 28:
Local greens are back in local custody. After the disappointment of Gaurav Ghei taking off with the recent Telegraph Open, it looked as if Calcuttans had lost touch with their own Royal Calcutta Golf Club. Rafiq Ali dispelled such doubts today, ending his 18-month wait for a title as he played safe and steady to give himself an early birthday present by winning the third Royal Challenge Grand Prix series event.
Rafiq, who turns 32 Sunday, took virtually no chances as he slotted three comfortable birdies, but gave away four bogeys to finish the day at one-over 73 and the tournament at six-under 210. That, still was good for a clear three-stroke victory over the first Grand Prix event (Noida) Vijay Kumar, who was second at three-under 213.
Vijay did give a good try during the day, but still failed to catch up with the local man, who lives a stone's throw from the course and understandably had a considerable gallery.
Making it a fine day for the locals, were Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia and Rahil Gangjee, who finished in the three-way tie for the third place, with Bangalorean Rahul Ganapathy as the third player at one-over 217.
Indrajit Bhalotia, who brought in a three-under 69 for the final round, tied for the sixth place with veteran Rohtas Singh, who was in the top for the 12th time in 21 starts, and Yusuf Ali, as all of them finished at two-over 218. Finishing ninth was old warhorse Shiv Prakash at three-over 219 with a final day's score of 74.
Completing the top ten was a six-way tie between Mumbai RCGP winner Mukesh Kumar, Amit Dube, Sanjay Kumar, Ali Sher, Vinod Kumar and Digvijay Singh. Firoz Ali finished tied for 16th.