Sri Lanka’s Mithun Perera fired a final round of one-under-70 of the 11th Tata Open here today to win the Rs 50 lakh prize money.

Perera, who totalled 11-under-274 for the tournament, finished one stroke ahead of Delhi’s Vinod Kumar.

Perera (65-72-67-70), the overnight leader, had a good start to the day as he birdied the second (par-5) after landing his chip from the bunker within a couple of inches of the flag.

Perera, who has now won three professional titles, went on to make pars on all the other holes and made some amazing saves on the seventh and 14th. He made outstanding chip-putts on the seventh and 14th.

“I hit it really well today. I was solid through the day and played regulation golf. My short-game was good in the final round, especially the putting. This win is a result of my hard work and dedication,” said Perera, who has now climbed from seventh place to fifth position on the 2012 Rolex Rankings.

Kumar (68-67-70-70), the defending champion, finished runner-up after firing a one-under-70 in the final round.

Vinod’s round featured four birdies and three bogeys and helped him end the tournament with a total of 10-under-275.

Om Prakash Chouhan (69-68-68-71) of Mhow finished a further stroke back in third place.

While Perera won the cash prize of Rs.8,088,250, Kumar had to content with Rs.5,58,250. Chouhan became richer by Rs.3,13,250 for the third place. Rashid Khan of Delhi and Mhow’s Mukesh Kumar shared fourth place at eight-under-277.

Rashid has now climbed from second position to first place on the 2012 Rolex Rankings.

H M Nerurkar, Managing Director of TATA Steel, said, “The last four days have been great for golf in Jamshedpur with lot of international participation and will definitely help increase the golfing standards of the city.

On Sunday the entire field played nine holes each on both the courses — Beldih as well as Golmuri.

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