Shankar Das with son Shubhankar and daughter Sagarika, at the RCGC, on Sunday. Picture by Santosh Ghosh

Calcutta: As Shankar Das got ready to tee off on a windy Sunday morning, he had a prayer on his lips. He asked for a birdie on the first hole, which according to him “would bring good omen”. His prayer was answered and a 20-feet birdie gave him the confidence for the battle ahead.

And as some 1000 golf enthusiasts started following him, Shankar’s confidence grew. The urge to excel in front of the home crowd — just like the last three days, son Shubhankar and daughter Sagaraika were there on Sunday as well — was such that Shankar didn’t wilt even though Gaganjeet Bhullar was snapping at his heels. Even bogies on the 11th and 14th could not rattle him.

When he walked on to the 18th green amidst thundering applause from the RCGC members, his friends and enthusiasts, Shankar had sealed the year-ending McLeod Russel Tour Championship.

His two-putt finish enabled him to finish at three-under and a total of an amazing 16-under 272, thereby winning by three strokes. He smiled and acknowledged the deafening roar as his seven-year-old daughter came running to give him a hug.

The friends lifted him in joy and someone came with a garland. Shankar wasn’t complaining. After all, it was his first title win at his home course. It was party time at the Royal. Something similar to what we witnessed in 2012 when another local hero, SSP Chowrasia, had won the title.

The winner’s purse of Rs 23,77,500, the Rolex Player of the Year title… Quite rightly Shankar said: “I couldn’t have asked for more.”

Bhullar and Abhinav Lohan of the DLF Golf & Country Club, Gurgaon, were joint runners-up at 13-under-275 as they fired matching scores of 68 in round four.

On the circuit, Shankar is known as a golfer who has the talent, but lacks the finishing touch. On Sunday, he proved that he has come of age. “Yoga and workout at the club (RCGC) gym did wonders to me,” he revealed.

Such was Shankar’s confidence on the back-nine that he even refused to see the leaderboard. “I knew par rounds would take me through.” His best of the day was the tee shot on the 13th where he successfully negotiated a tough pin position. A birdie was there for the taking and he didn’t disappoint his fans.

Talking about Bhullar, the Kaputhala golfer came into his own with a 68 that featured five birdies and a bogey. Lohan also mixed five birdies with a lone bogey to end up in joint second along with Bhullar.

Bangalore’s Chikkarangappa, who required a runner-up finish to seal the Rolex Rankings title, claimed fourth position at 12-under-276 after his final round of 69 and thus ended up in second position on the money list.

Delhi’s Shamim Khan finished a further stroke behind Chikka in fifth place. Shamim made five consecutive birdies from the 13th to the 17th during his fourth round effort of 71.

When Shankar and Shamim were going great guns, Rashid Khan, who was second after the third round, was floundering. His driving let him down badly, and putting was equally bad. No wonder he returned with a card of seven-over. “Just do not know what went wrong with my shots today.” .

Meanwhile, Arjun Atwal, playing his first tournament on the PGTI Tour, finished at ninth. SSP shared the seventh spot with Sri Lankan K Prabagaran at seven-under-281, while Rahil Gangjee was joint 20th at one-under-287.

But the city wouldn’t mind. It has a new golf champion in Shankar Das.