Maiden title for golfer Pathania

MUMBAI: The best things in life, they say, come when you least expect it. For Mandeo Singh Pathania, that ‘unexpected’ moment came on a breezy Saturday afternoon at the Bombay Presidency Golf Club here.
The Noida-based Mandeo, a regular on the pro tour since 2005, has been one of the most consistent golfers around, but a title had always eluded him. Considered one of the longest hitters on the PGTI circuit, he never missed the cut in the last two years till this month’s Indian Open."That missed cut (at the Indian Open) was like a wake-up call," he says. "I sat for long hours with my caddy to analyze what went wrong. And I found the remedy."
The Crompton Greaves Open at the refurbished BPGC course saw a different Mandeo at work. His final-day five-under 65 was preceded by scores of 68, 66 and 67 for a four-day total of 14-under 266, which was three strokes ahead of second-placed Mukesh Kumar’s tally of 11-under 269. "Finally, the door has opened," said the 27-year-old of his maiden PGTI title. "It may have taken five years, but it had to come some day."
Was he expecting it? "To be frank, no. I never even thought about it (title) till I sank my final putt. In fact, one of the things I realized after the Indian Open setback was that I was trying too hard. Here, I consciously avoided looking at the scores. I just took it hole by hole. I am finally feeling relaxed."
Overnight tied-second, Mandeo, who plays and teaches at the Jaypee Greens Golf Resort in Greater Noida, made a sedate start to his final-day campaign, breezing through the first eight holes without dropping a shot before putting a 30-feet birdie on the ninth, followed by two more on the 11th and 12th.
Leading scores
266: Mandeo Singh Pathania (67-66-68-65);
269: Mukesh Kumar (70-67-66-66);
272: Vijay Kumar (69-65-65-65);
274: Vinod Kumar (67-69-68-70); Ashok Kumar (66-70-68-70); Harendra Gupta (67-67-69-71);
275: Shamim Khan (69-69-72-65).