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Nuh (Haryana)[India], April 2 (ANI): American Dodge Kemmer fired a brilliant last round of six-under 66 to register a three-shot win at 23-under 265 at the Gurugram Challenge 2022 PGTI – ADT held here at Classic Golf and Country Club.
Thailand’s Chanat Sakulpolaphaisan (68) took second place at 20-under 268 at the US$75,000 event jointly sanctioned by the PGTI and Asian Development Tour (ADT).
Seventeen-year-old rookie Arjun Bhati, playing only his second event after turning professional, had the best finish among the Indians as he took a creditable third place at 18-under 270. Arjun’s final round of 66, along with winner Kemmer’s round, was the day’s joint best score.
Dodge Kemmer (67-66-66-66), lying one shot off the lead in second place after round three, shot a third straight 66, a bogey-free round, to come home the winner on the most windy day of the week. The 34-year-old Dodge, who had almost missed his tee off in round three after having trouble finding transport to the course, took the lead early in the day with birdies on the third and fourth holes even as overnight leader Rory Hie of Indonesia dropped a double-bogey on the third to drop down the leaderboard.
Kemmer, who turned professional in 2010, then pushed ahead with two crucial birdies on the seventh and eighth. He chipped out from the trees on the seventh before sinking a six-footer. Dodge made a long conversion on the 13th for another birdie before driving it close to the green on the 15th to pick up his sixth shot of the day.
Asian Tour regular Kemmer’s success ratified his decision to stay on for the event after last week’s The DGC Open, where he finished joint 49th.
“It was a great decision!” said Kemmer.
He added, “I like being in India, it was an easy choice. Obviously, a win is always good and good for the confidence and gets me in a good place on the ADT list in case I need that to stay on the Asian Tour next year.
“I saw on the forecast it was going to be windy and I noticed a lot of the pins yesterday and they were definitely the hardest of the week so I didn’t have a number in mind or expectations but I knew that scores would probably be higher, just with the wind and the pins, and so probably played a little more conservative if anything into the greens and that definitely paid off as I didn’t have any bogeys, which is a great way to have a final round.””The birdies on the seventh and eighth were crucial. I got out of trouble on the seventh and that was good for my momentum. The course is a bit more wide open from the 13th onwards. So from that point I decided to keep playing aggressively as I knew there were birdies out there and I had to accelerate,” said Dodge, who resides in San Francisco and has won four times around the world including two Qualifying School events and an event each on the Japan Challenge Tour and a mini tour in England.
Chanat Sakulpolaphaisan (66-67-67-68), who was overnight tied third, shot a flawless 68 in round four to rise one spot to second place. He chipped-in for birdie on the fifth.
Arjun Bhati (70-66-68-66) mixed seven birdies with a bogey during his 66. He began his day with a 30-feet birdie conversion on the first hole that set up the round for him.
Arjun said, “I’m very proud of my effort this week. Scoring 18-under is a huge confidence-booster for me. It’s a dream start to my career. I putted really well this week.”Indonesia’s Rory Hie, the leader for the first three days, carded a 73 on Friday to finish tied fourth at 17-under 271. India’s Yuvraj Singh Sandhu (67) and England’s Joshua Grenville-Wood (68) also took a share of fourth place. (ANI)
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