Vihaan Jain holds off Nilofer to win IGU Jr Boys Golf Championship

Vihaan Jain of Haryana won the IGU Southern India Junior Boys Golf Championship at the Coimbatore Golf Club. He carded a five-over 77 for a two-shot victory over Nilofer Sivamoorthy, marking his second consecutive Category 'A' title.

Vihaan Jain of Haryana made clutch putts on the homestretch on Friday to hold off a gritty Nilofer Sivamoorthy of Tamil Nadu, securing the IGU Southern India Junior Boys Golf Championship title at the Coimbatore Golf Club, a release said.

The 16-year-old got off to a shaky start but came good under pressure on the back nine. He carded a five-over 77 for a nervy, two-shot victory over Sivamoorthy (75) on a windswept day. This was the second consecutive Category 'A' (15-17 years) title for Vihaan, who finished with a 12-over 300 total. He also won last week in Vizag.

Dramatic Final Round

Vihaan held a four-stroke cushion going into the final day, but a shaky front nine with four bogeys allowed the steady Sivamoorthy to snap at his heels. The Tamil Nadu golfer caught up with the leader on the 10th hole.

Vihaan was a trifle unlucky on the 10th hole when his wedge shot from 107 yards ricocheted off a sprinkler head and went out of bounds. After his fourth shot got plugged in the bunker, he was fortunate to escape with a double-bogey six, it added.

He holed a 20-footer to go up by a shot, but Sivamoorthy birdied the 14th to draw level. Vihaan then let his putter do the talking with great par saves. The Gurgaon youngster drained a 22-foot putt on the 14th hole, sank a 15-footer on the 15th, 10-foot putt on the 16th, and holed a 12-footer on the 17th hole.

Under the cosh following Vihaan's brilliant putting, Sivamoorthy bogeyed the 16th and 17th holes to hand Vihaan a two-stroke lead heading into the final hole. A steady par on the 18th secured the championship for Vihaan.

Chaitanya Pandey Wins Category 'B'

Like Vihaan, Delhi's Chaitanya Pandey clinched his second straight Category 'B' (13-14 years) title. Pandey shot a closing 77 to seal a three-shot victory over Jaibir Singh Kang (74). Pandey finished with a four-day total of 20-over 308.

Final Scores

Final scores (after 72 holes): Category 'A' (15-17 years): 300: Vihaan Jain (Har, 75, 72, 76, 77); 302: Nilofer Sivamoorthy (TN, 77, 74, 76, 75); 305: Adhiraaj Singh Gill (Pun, 74, 79, 76, 76); 308: Shashank Sachin Gadre (Mah, 79, 78, 75, 76), Chaitanya Pandey (Del, 79, 75, 77, 77). Category 'B' (13-14): 308: Chaitanya Pandey; 311: Jaibir Singh Kang (83, 77, 77, 74); 314: Saatvic Kumar Singh (Tel, 81, 78, 80, 75); 321: Aditya Tewari (Kar, 85, 78, 80, 78); 332: Siddhant Sharma (Har, 82, 83, 81, 86).

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