Kolkata, Nov 1 (IANS) Aman Raj has his eyes set firmly on the AsianTour and more as he moved to the top of the Indian Golf Premier League (IGPL) rankings with his second win in as many weeks, as he clinched the IGPL Invitational Kolkata hosted by SSP Chawrasia at the Tollygunge Golf Club.

Aman, who won by three shots, has earned Rs. 58,34,058 and holds a handy lead of almost Rs. 13 lakhs over teenaged Kartik Singh (Rs. 45,16,307), who finished outside the Top-10 for the first time in five starts. Gaganjeet Bhullar, who is busy on the Asian Tour, has won Rs. 45,00,000 as Kapil Kumar (36,44,725) and Veer Ganapathy (29,90,775).

The 30-year-old Aman, who now has two wins and three other Top-10s in five starts on the IGPL Tour, achieved another major landmark as he also became the first player to amass more than Rs. 50 lakhs on the IGPL and became the second player after Gaganjeet Bhullar to win back-to-back events. Bhullar won the first two IGPL events in Chandigarh and Jaypee Greens, and he was followed by Kapil Kumar in Pune. Aman has now won in Jaipur and Kolkata.

A day after the pro event, Ridhima Dilawari, who was the top woman finisher at the IGPL Kolkata, took her team to victory in the Pro-Am. Her teammates at the Pro-Am were Raunak Sethi, Saket Singhal, and Atharv Tripurari.

The teams led by Saarthak Chhibbera and southpaw Kartik Sharma were second and third. Chhibber’s team included Gaurav Ghosh, Kulvin Suri, and Sanjeev Mehra, while Sharma’s teammates were Hemant Capur, Rupinder Singh, and Sourav Chatterjee.

Aman Raj, who pulled off a three-shot win with a three-shot swing on the very last hole over the talented Veer Ganapathy, was relaxed after his second straight win, as he enjoyed himself in the Pro-Am.

“My game is getting to where I want it to be. I am not 100 per cent there, but I am getting there; I am now about 80 per cent or more there. There is a lot to look out for – winning the IGPL Order of Merit means a spot in the International Series early next year, there is an Asian Tour event later this month in Ahmedabad, and I also plan to go to the Asian Tour Q-School,” Aman said.

“I feel that I can get to the international platform from the IGPL. There has been a lot of talk about the pathway. There is indeed a solid pathway from IGPL. There is a pathway from here to the Asian Tour. Also, there is a pathway to the European Tour if I want. All I need to do is go to the Q-school and qualify. Personally, the Asian Tour is more appealing to me right now. I have played there, the food is good, and there is a lot of comfort. In short, it is more comfortable. So, yes, I am looking forward to all that as my game slowly comes back,” added golfer Aman Raj

A day earlier, Aman Raj survived a close call before picking his second straight win at the Par-70 Tollygunge Golf Club. Aman Raj (68) finished at 14-under for three days, while Veer Ganapathy, who was 4-under through 17 holes, dropped a double-bogey on the last and ended second at 11-under total. Though the margin was three shots, both players were level with one hole to go.

Aman birdied the closing hole, while Veer double-bogeyed after going left and then hitting a tree with his second shot. Aryan Roopa Anand, a two-time All India Amateur champion, produced his best result of the IGPL Tour as he shot 4-under 66 and finished sole third at 9-under. His earlier two rounds were 68-66. Also registering his best in the IGPL season was Samarth Dwivedi (67), who over three days carded 67-69-67for a 7-under total and fourth place.

Syed Saqib Ahmed (66-69-69) was tied fifth with veteran Ranjit Singh (69-67-68) at 6-under 204.

The top women finisher of the week was Ridhima Dilawari (69-70-71) at even par for the week, and she was tied 20th alongside the likes of established men’s stars Chiragh Kumar (67-71-72), an Asian Tour winner, and Olympian Udayan Mane (66-74-70). The Top amateurs were Rahul Ravi (70-68-73) and Aryav Shah (67-71-73) at 1-over and Tied-25th.

The next IGPL event is in Jamshedpur next week from November 5 to 7.

–IANS

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