Uttarakhand Lions won in a nail-biting finish on the final day to lift the inaugural Pearls Golf Premier League title here on Sunday. The Lions, who were third overnight and seven shots adrift of leaders Witalsee Punjab Lancers and five behind second-placed Nippon Kenwood Delhi Darts, zoomed to the top with a 34-under at the Aamby Valley Golf Course.
The team consisted of Darren Clarke, Mukesh Kumar, Chapchai Nirat and Shankar Das. The Punjab Lancers and Delhi Darts were tied for second at 33-under while the Shubhkamna UP Eagles ended fourth at 32-under despite an incredible and best-of-the-day 11-under by Anirban Lahiri and Shamim Khan.
The Lions were powered by sterling performances from the Clarke-Chapchai and Mukesh-Shankar combinations.
Clarke, a five-time member of the European Ryder Cup team and has also played the World Cup and Alfred Dunhill Cup for Ireland, and Chapchai soared on the wings a dramatic eagle and seven birdies for a nine-under in the 14-hole round. Mukesh and Shankar were eight-under with two holes to play, before they bogeyed the 13th, the penultimate hole, but then Mukesh birdied the final par-3, which has a beach bunker and hauled his team atop the leaderboard.