The Bally’s Sri Lankan Open 2015, which is one of the most looked forward to events on the golfing calendar concluded today with a thriller finish after four days of intense golfing at the Royal Colombo Golf Club course.
With a nail biting final round, local pro N. Thangarajah managed to clinch the Bally’s Sri Lankan Open 2015 with a score of 280 at the end of four rounds. Two-time winner of the Sri Lankan Open; K. Prabagaran who was fighting for his third consecutive win fell short of three points ending up with a total of 283.
At the end of the second round Thangarajah seemed to be comfortably in the lead with six points against the second place at the time, Lalith Rohana. K. Prabagaran on the other hand was tied for third with M. Dharma from India, having 142 points apiece.
It was the third round that turned the game around. Prabagaran played exceptionally well ending up with a splendid 4 under par score of 67 to grab the lead. Thangarajah who was leading at the start of the day, struggled a bit at the 10th hole with an ‘out of bounds’ drive off the tee and a missed 8 foot putt. He met with further trouble on the 14th hole where he ended up with a triple bogey. Prabagaran on the other hand fired three beautiful birdies on this round grabbing the lead.
On the fourth and final day, Thangarajah burst out a few late birdies to win the championship with Prabagaran dropping few strokes. M. Dharma, an Indian Pro golfer came in third with 287. Sri Lankan Pro Lalith Kumara who scored 288 falling just short of the third place took fourth place.
Speaking a few words after the event, the ever-smiling Thangarajah said that the well-maintained RCGC course was a tough arena to score well in. He was aiming for a score 15 under par whereas he ended up scoring 4 under par. ‘Thanga’ as he is fondly known in the golfing circuit said that he played under immense pressure on the final day to win the championship.
The tournament was sponsored by Bally’s Entertainment as the Title Sponsor together with the Co-Sponsor UTE CAT and the Affiliate Sponsors AMW NISSAN X Trail and CML Walkers. The sponsors helped increase the prize purse to a whopping 2.5 million rupees. They also facilitated the participation of foreign Pro’s from India and Pakistan.
Indian Pro’s on the PGTI, Pakistan Pro’s and Sri Lankan Pro’s in the PGTI formed the competitive field at the Bally’s Sri Lanka Open 2015 and all Pro’s now embark to Cochin to start the grueling PGTI 2016 Tour with the opening event starting on the 9th of February, the Cochin Masters.
