Viraj Madappa wins first event after return from injury layoff; bags PGTI Players Championship at Classic

Nuh (Haryana)[India], April 25 : Viraj Madappa of Kolkata won his first event after his return from a long injury layoff as he bagged the Rs 60 lakh PGTI Players Championship played at the Classic Golf and Country.

Viraj (67-73-65) shot a seven-under 65 in the third and final round, the day's best score, to move up four spots from his overnight tied fifth place and total 11-under 205 at the 54-hole event.

Twenty-seven-year-old Madappa, who didn't play a professional event for over a year, won by a two-shot margin.

Bengaluru's Trishul Chinnappa (72-64-71) carded a 71 in round three to finish as runner-up at nine-under 207.

Chandigarh golfer Ranjit Singh (69) and Kapurthala's Yuvraj Singh (68) took joint third place at eight-under 208.

Viraj Madappa, an international winner, lifted his third professional trophy and first since 2021, after he signed for a flawless card that featured an eagle and five birdies. Madappa began the day with birdies on the first two holes and then added another birdie on the seventh to make the turn at three-under.

On the back-nine, Viraj collected an eagle on the 14th and two more birdies to race ahead of the rest of the field. Madappa picked up a cheque worth Rs 9,00,000 for his effort.

Trishul Chinnappa, the overnight leader by two shots, made an eagle, a birdie and two bogeys to submit a card of 71 on Thursday and take second place. Trishul earned a cheque of Rs 6,00,000 for his effort that lifted him from 74th to 36th place in the PGTI Order of Merit.

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