Udayan wins by eight strokes at Western India Oxford Masters

Rookie Udayan Mane continued his dream run, securing his second title in only his ninth professional event when he cruised to a comfortable eight-stroke victory at the inaugural Western India Oxford Masters at the Oxford Golf Resort here today.
The 24-year-old from Bengaluru shot a clinical four-under 68 in the fourth round to take his total to 19-under 269 and claim his second title in a span of four weeks.
He took home the winner's cheque worth Rs. 4,50,000 which pushed him up from seventh place to third position in the Rolex Rankings. His season's earnings now read Rs. 14,72,792.

Faridabad's Abhinav Lohan, who was overnight tied second, finished a distant second at 11-under 277 at the Rs. 30 lakh PGTI event after his final round of two-under-70.
Shubhankar Sharma of Gurgaon shot the day's joint best score of six-under 66 to end the week in tied third along with Sri Lankan Anura Rohana (71) at 10-under-278. Noida's Rahul Bajaj claimed fifth place at seven-under 281.
Abhishek Jha of Bengaluru also shot a 66, the day's joint best score, to secure tied 16th place at two-under 286.

Nagpur's Moinuddin Malak, who also resides and plays a lot of golf in Pune, finished as the highest-placed professional from Western India and Maharashtra. Malak was tied 27th at one-over-289.

Udayan (65-69-67-68), who enjoyed a mammoth six-shot lead ahead of the final round, didn't look in trouble at any stage today. He was ahead by six shots or more through the day.
Udayan, who won his maiden title in Jaipur three weeks ago, was quick off the blocks as he birdied the second after landing it within three feet and sank an eagle on the fourth thanks to a 20-feet conversion. The bogey on the ninth was a minor hiccup for Mane where his tee shot went off the mark.
Mane got his back-nine going with two good pars on the 10th and 11th and a 10-feet birdie putt on the 12th. He finally sealed his wire-to-wire win in style by knocking in a 45-footer for birdie on the 17th.

It is only the first time that a player has won two titles in his rookie season on the PGTI.
Udayan said, "I knew I had a very good chance of winning today as a result of the substantial lead. However, I took nothing for granted and wanted to get off to a good start which I did manage to do. I was striking it well so I was confident of hitting the fairways and greens and taking my chances on the greens.
"The birdie on the 12th got my back-nine going after I dropped a bogey on the ninth. Thereafter I knew I didn't have to do anything extraordinary.

"The two wins mean that I'll now have to reassess my goals for the season and aim much higher than before.