Bangalore: Gaurav Ghei was unbeatable at the Delhi Golf Course as he carded two- under, 70, to win the Royal Challenge Grand Prix on Friday.

Starting aggressively with birdies on the second, third and fifth holes, to get to 16-under-par for the tournament, Gaurav increased his lead to six strokes after eight holes, before faltering briefly on the par-four ninth where he hit his drive into the bushes to card his first double bogey of the tournament.

Gaurav continued to maintain a comfortable lead as Arjun Singh made his first birdie of the day on the par-three seventh followed by another on the par-five eighth hole, before dropping a stroke on the ninth as well. Gaurav made the turn at 14-under-par, while Arjun Singh dropped to nine-under for the tournament, five strokes behind the leader.

However, Arjun closed in on the back nine, making birdies on the 11th and 13th holes to get to 11-under, three strokes behind Gaurav walking down the par-five 14th hole.

Both golfers hit their third shots onto the green, Arjun two-putted for par, while Gaurav sank a four-foot putt for birdie to get to 15-under for the week. Scores were reversed on the next as Gaurav made par on the 15th hole, where Arjun carded a birdie to take his total to 12-under and decrease the lead to three.

The score remained the same thereafter, as both golfers carded pars on the last three holes, and Gaurav finally holed out on the 18th to seal his victory. "I played well today and am happy with my performance. I just hung in there and fought it out," said the 2002 Royal Challenge Grand Prix winner.

Arjun, who finished second, added, "I slipped a lot of putts today. If I had made some of them I could have put some pressure on Gaurav." Supporting a total purse of Rupees 8 lakh, the first leg of the Royal Challenge Grand Prix for the 2002-03 season, which was played over the Delhi Golf Course from October 8-11, 2002, concluded on Friday.

A hundred professionals led by Jyoti Randhawa, Arjun Singh, Vijay Kumar, Uttam Singh Mundy, Vivek Bhandari, Gaurav Ghei, Ali Sher and Shiv Prakash participated in the championship, the second event in the northern swing of the Hero Honda Golf Tour.

Playing in the leader group, Ashok Kumar started the round well, with a birdie on the second before faltering with a double bogey on the par-four fourth. He then recovered with birdies on the par-three fifth and the par-four sixth holes.

However, dropped shots on the par-five eighth and ninth holes saw him make the turn at five-under for the event. Another bogey on the par-four 11th, a birdie on the 13th, yet another dropped shot on the 16th and a birdie on the last saw Ashok tie Amritinder Singh for third place.

Ashok said, "I could have played much better this week as I dropped some unnecessary strokes on all four days."

Starting with birdies on the first and second holes, Amritinder dropped back with a bogey on the third hole. However, he soon picked up two more strokes, on the difficult par-four sixth and the par-five eighth, before dropping another stroke on the ninth, where he pushed his drive into the right bushes.

A double bogey on the 10th hole after hitting his drive in the left bushes, followed by a bogey on the 13th and a final birdie on the last where he narrowly missed chipping-in for eagle, saw him card a final round, 72.

"I started off well but failed to capitalize on it, carding a par round. However, I am happy with the way I have played over the last few days," said Amritinder. Amritinder Singh and Jumman started the day at five-under, playing along with Ranjit Singh who was at four-under-par after three days.

Playing together, all three players picked up birdies on the par-five first hole. However, they had mixed luck thereafter and Shiv Prakash moved up with a three- under, 69 to finish in fifth place at four-under for the week.

Meanwhile, Jyoti Randhawa who shot a five-under, 67, carded the best round of the day. "I just wanted to finish the tournament under-par and am happy that my total for the week is one-under-par," said Jyoti.