Sri Lanka Golf on a high!
View(s):Anura Rohana after a series of average performances clinched a thriller coming from behind in 4th place going into the final Round to fire a 3 under shooting 3 birdies in the last 6 holes to finish on 7under par for a 4 round total of 281 in the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) Tournament in Karnataka concluded on Friday.
Anura Rohana winner of the Asian Games Seoul 2000, Golf Silver Medal has played on the Indian Tour and Asian Tour for some years now and won only his second PGTI tournament in his career at 38 years. Anura Rohana beat Anisbar Lahiri by 1 stroke who finished on 6 under another one shot ahead of Mithun Perera and Rashid who tied in third place on 283 at 5 under for the 4 Rounds.
![Anura-Rohana-Golf-1](http://www.sundaytimes.lk/120812/uploads/Anura-Rohana-Golf-11.jpg)
Anura Rohana with the cheque he won at the PGTI Tournament in Karnataka.
Anura Rohana with this win climbed from 46th place to 13th place in the PGTI Rolex Ranking for 2012. Anura Rohana said in a post match interview that he was happy to run into form just before another Tour Tournament coming up on home soil in Colombo next week!
A great result for Sri Lanka with the two Pro’s finishing 1st and 3rd in India while the fellow Sri Lankan Amateur N.Thangaraja is on a roll himself performing brilliantly in the 65th Singapore Open Amateur Golf Championship played from August 2 to 5. Raja returned the best final round score of even par on a very windy tough day where scoring was difficult to finish in second place on 1 over par 289 one shot behind Joshua Shai from Singapore wining on home soil to become the 4th Singaporean to do so.
A 122 strong field after a two round cut-off reduced to 64 with the last placed ties had an international field with players from 16 countries playing with Amateurs from Australia and New Zealand too! In fact Kevin Marquess from Australia finished in third place on 290 – 2 over par for the 4 rounds. Thanagaraja ranked 64th best Amateur in the World Rankings and 7th place in the Asian Amateur Rankings will surely climb up more places with this sterling performance in a very strong International Amateur field.
Sri Lanka can be quite proud about the achievements in Golf with very limited resources and facilities which is evidence of abundant talent available. Hard work, training, talent and planned rest to avoid burn-out unlike the Sri Lankan cricketers playing competitive series after series non-stop cricket resulting in erratic inconsistent performances adds to the pressure to perform and succeed. SL Golf in Ana Punchihewa’s hands can only thrive but the necessary support of member clubs, sponsors and golfers with a burning desire to succeed must surely follow!
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