New Delhi: A determined Yuvraj Sandhu, coming back from a heartbreaking second-place finish in Jaipur last week, dominated proceedings with a final round of six-under 66 to secure a stunning eight-stroke victory in the INR 2 crore Vishwa Samudra Open 2025 presented by Kapil Dev, played at the prestigious Delhi Golf Club (DGC).
Chandigarh-based Yuvraj (73-69-66-66), who shot a bogey-free 66 for the second consecutive time, posted a total score of 14-under 274 this week. As a result, Sandhu picked up the winner’s check worth INR 30 lakh and took an unassailable lead in the PGTI rankings with a season’s winnings of INR 1,61,67,100.
The 28-year-old Yuvraj emerged as champion of the PGTI Order of Merit 2025 and secured his place on the DP World Tour for next year.
Sandhu’s impressive sixth win of the season helped him equal the PGTI record for most titles in a season, set by Manu Gandas in 2022. Yuvraj also equaled the record for lowest DGC win total (14 under 274) set by Viraj Madappa in 2021.
Sri Lanka’s N Thangaraja (73-66-75-68) finished a distant second after his final round of 68 at six-under 282. Thangaraja collected the runner-up check of INR 20 lakh and moved up two places to the second position in the PGTI rankings with season winnings of INR 1,08,57,488.
Akshay Sharma (five under 283), Manu Gandas (three under 285) and Rashid Khan (two under 286) finished third, fourth and fifth respectively.
Yuvraj Sandhu, who started the day with a one-shot lead, made early strides toward the title with birdies on the first two holes, where he went up and down from the bunker and made a 12-footer. Yuvraj then added four more birdies to comfortably move to 15th placeTh Career title as the rest of the field struggled to keep up with him.
Yuvraj, whose 13 top-10 finishes this season also included three runner-up finishes, said: “The fact that I have secured the PGTI Order of Merit title and secured my place on the DP World Tour is something I am yet to grasp. I think it will only become clear when I tee off on the DP World Tour. I am really looking forward to playing in Europe.”
“Winning my sixth title of the year and winning at DGC for the first time is also special. DGC is known as the home of Indian golf and this is where I grew up watching my golfing heroes win titles. So winning here was always on my wish list.”
“The important thing is that I took my recent close misses and heartbreaks as lessons learned and didn’t dwell on them for too long. I feel like I showed a lot of courage to come back strong after my disappointing runner-up finishes where I came close to winning. I did well to go back to the drawing board and analyze my performances. This week there was also more clarity in the decision-making between me and my caddy.
“I took a risk by playing the PGTI this year and sacrificed my Asian Tour card. That risk paid off for me. I was fully focused on becoming number one in the PGTI rankings and securing my spot on the DP World Tour. All the patience and dedication paid off in the end.
“I had a great team that supported me throughout and I would like to thank them, including my coach and fitter Gurbaaz Mann, my trainer Lavish, my physiotherapists Gaurav and Ravinder and my mental coach Rabiya.”
