Sri Lankan N Thangaraja Wins Chittagong Open

March 29, 2018

N Thangaraja came up with a classic six-under-66 in round four to cruise to a thumping six shot win in the  City Bank American Express Chittagong Open 2018 at the magnificent Bhatiary Golf & Country Club (BGCC) yesterday.

Thangaraja ended the meet with a record total of 22-under-266 in the Taka 50 lakh prize money tournament. India’s Veer Ahlawat carded a three-under-69 on the final day to finish runner-up at 16-under-272.

Among the Bangladeshi golfers, Md Sajib Ali had the best finish as he clinched fifth place with a total of 11-under-277. N Thangaraja (65-67-68-66), who was in contention in the last two PGTI events before slipping on the final day on both occasions, managed to set the record straight this time around.

The 36-year-old Thangaraja didn’t look in any trouble from the very start as he sank birdies on the third and sixth to extend his lead to three shots on the front-nine. He then went on to tighten his grip on the title with four more birdies on the back-nine. Thanga thus signed off with a bogey-free effort.

Thanga, who won his first title on the PGTI after a gap of three years, has now moved up from 11th to first position on the PGTI Order of Merit. Incidentally, the Colombo resident’s 22-under-266 total is the lowest ever winning score achieved at the BGCC. The previous best was Siddikur’s 16-under-272 at the inaugural City Bank American Express Chittagong Open last year.