Prabagaran in historic win at UTE-Cat sponsored SL Open Golf Championship

Friday, 24 January 2014 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

N. Prabagaran was third time lucky when he was forced to a sudden-death play-off by Thangaraja when the two professionals on the PGTI tied on 10 under par after 72 holes. Praba had a slender 1 stroke lead at the start of the round on 9 under par and maintained the same lead after the 9th hole. Thangaraja produced 3 Birdies in the next 4 holes to lead Prabagaran by 2 shots playing the 15th hole. Thangaraja double bogeyed the 17th to tie with Prabagaran on 10 under par whilst the Defending Champion Anura Rohana was just 1 stroke behind the leaders on 9 under par.

Mithun Perera had an even par round to remain in 4th position whilst M. Arumugam and Lalith Kumara were the only two players to score below par in the final round. Arumugam finished in 5th place behind the ‘Pro PGTI’ golf professionals and 8 strokes further behind in 6th place were Lalith Kumara (RCGC Pro) and Zen Darmaratne who is on the Malaysian Pro circuit. Zaffar Sikkander was the best placed youngster finishing in 07th place tied with K. Chnadradasa (RCGC Pro)and Sisira Kumara. The UTE-Cat sponsored Sri Lanka Open Golf Championship 2013 played in 2014 due to non-availability of the Sri Lankan Pros who were on tour, produced the most historic record when the ‘sudden-death play-off’ was administered for the first time in the history of the Sri Lanka Open Golf Championship since 1970.The nail biting tense finish watched by the eager participants and spectators produced an anti-climax with the pressure of the situation overcoming both professionals and eventually Prabagaran winning with a bogey to Thangaraja’s double bogey. The enthralling final day’s play was followed by a simple prize giving ceremony graced by the CEO of title sponsors Riyad Ismail, President of the SLGU Lal Dias, Captain of the host club Nimal Piyarathne, UTE Chairman Priath Fernando and Tiru Jesudasan, the only Sri Lankan lady golfer who played on the Ladies Pro Tour (LPG Tour) who gave away the trophies. UTE-Cat Sri Lanka Open was organised by the Sri Lanka Golf Union under the able guidance of the Honorary Secretary Ana Punchihewa with the able assistance of Jagath and Mahinda representing RCGC. The RCGC course was in excellent shape and the tournament committee can take credit for the great ground conditions. The 2013 Championship was co-sponsored by CML-MTD Construction Ltd. and the purse of Rs. 1 million was appropriately distributed among the top 41 players who made the cut off and completed the 4 rounds. Special awards were given to the members who participated in UTE-Cat Challenge Trophy where the youngsters dominated the major categories with Sachin De Silva winning the UTE-Cat Challenge Trophy with the best aggregate two rounds gross score. Zaffar Sikkander was the runner-up and between the two youngsters they picked up the best gross and net score prizes alternatively. However over the 4 rounds Zaffar finished ahead of Sachin De Silva. In the Ladies category Niloo Jayathilake won the Pam Fernando Challenge Trophy for the best aggregate gross score on a count back having tied with Jane Hong on the same score of 164. Seven time winner and Defending Champion Anura Rohana finished in 3rd place just 1 stroke behind the top two and will have to wait another year at least to establish his personal record of 8 wins to be the player with the highest number of wins in the Sri Lanka Open Golf Championship as he is tied on 7 wins with the veteran Nandasena Perea who did not participate this year. Final Scores of UTE Cat Sri Lanka Open Golf Championship 2013 274 - Winner (Sudden-Death) – N Prabagaran 274 – Runnerup (Sudden-Death) – N Thangaraja 275 – Anura Rohana 280 – Mithun Perera 285 – M Arumugam 293 – Lalith Kumara, Zen Darmaratne 295 – Sisira Kumara, K Chandradasa, Zaffar Sikkander 296 – N Ranga 297 – R Pathmanatha , J.M.D Indika, M.Amarapathma 301 – R Sureshan, G.M Pradeep Kumara 303 – K. Soundarajan 304 – Sachin De Silva 305 – Prashan Pieris, M.U Chanaka Perera, J.J Kumar 306 – P Hemantha 307 – G Harisson UTE-Cat Challenge Trophy (Men) 2014 Winner – Sachin De Silva (144 gross) Runner up – Zaffar Sikkander (146 gross) Pam Fernando Challenge Trophy (Ladies) 2014 Winner – Niloo Jayathilaka (164 gross) Runner up – Jane Hong (164 gross)