Taoyuan City (Taiwan), June 26 (IANS) India’s Viraj Madappa scored two-over 74 for a four-day total of three-under 285 to register a two-shot victory at the Taiwan Amateur Golf Championship at the Sunrise Golf and Country Club here on Friday.
Madappa, 17, showed exemplary composure on a difficult day and negotiated the heavy winds to score 74 as joint overnight leader Sadom Kaewkanjana of Thaliand could only manage seven-over 79 and settled for the fourth place.
Madappa’s 72-hole total of 285 (70-72-69-74) was two strokes better than Singapore’s Gregory Foo, who was the only one to score an under-par score in the final round.
Madappa, ranked second in the Indian Golf Union’s Men Order of Merit, said: “I am on Cloud Nine with this victory. It was important to keep hanging in the game and make full use of my good short game. Despite getting early bogeys I was confident that I could still win the championship.”
The Kolkata-lad, ranked 58th in the amateur golfers rankings, had his course management in fine order, making birdies on the sixth and 15th holes. But he dropped shots on the second for a double bogey and 12th and 16th for a bogey.
Madappa, who finished as runner-up in the recently held Nepal Amateur tournament, has impressed many at home including his coach Indrajit Bhalotia who has seen him grow since the beginning.
Another Indian in the fray Aman Raj, current leader of IGU men amateur order of merit, slipped to the seventh place as the Patna-based golfer shot five-over 77 for the total of eight-over 296.
Raj fell victim to the swirling winds when he hit out of bounds on third hole for a double bogey.