Sri Lanka's Perera wins ICC RCGC Open Golf Championship

Sri Lanka's Mithun Perera put up a resilient show to lift the inaugural ICC RCGC Open Golf Championship after a thrilling final round at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club (RCGC) here on Sunday.

Perera, who lifted his seventh title on Sunday, carded an eventful but resolute even-par-72 in the last round to emerge winner by one stroke for a total of eight-under-280 at the Rs 40 lakh event.

Perera's prize money cheque of Rs 6,46,600 catapulted him from 26th to 14th position in the TATA Steel PGTI Order of Merit.

Lucknow's Sanjeev Kumar, who was the leader by three shots at one stage on Sunday and was staring at his maiden title, had to settle for second place after a 71 in the final round. He totalled seven-under-281 for the week.

Mumbai's Anil Bajrang Mane (71) and Delhi's Shamim Khan (71) took joint third place at four-under-284.

Gurugram's Manu Gandas matched the best round of the tournament with a 65 to finish tied fifth at three-under-285 along with Delhi's Kapil Kumar (77), the leader ..