Rhode Island (US), Feb 25: Mangaluru-origin Rigel Fernandes has become the world's highest ranked Indian amateur golfer, after he won the SunTrust Gator Invitational.

He was also named the American Men's Golf Player of the Week on Wednesday February 24 after a record setting week at the SunTrust Gator Invitational.

Rigel, a junior at the University of South Florida (USF), was the only player to break 200 for 54 holes with scores of 70, 63 and 64 for a 197 total, 13-under-par, and four-shot victory. Having jumped 72 places to rank 102nd, Rigel takes over from 116th ranked Aman Raj as the world’s top Indian player.

Fernandes shot a school record 63 in the second round of the Gator Invitational and finished with a programme record 13-under 197 (70-63-64). The performance helped him win the individual title by four shots. He tied for the tournament lead with 17 birdies and made par or better on his final 39 holes. As a team, USF won the event and broke the programme's 18-hole record with a 13-under 267 in the final round and finished 22-under (818: 282-269-267), eight shots ahead of No 19 Vanderbilt and nine ahead of No 12 Florida.

"One of the more difficult things to do in golf is to play a great round and to follow it back up with another good round," head coach Steve Bradley said. "He just did a great job of focusing on his game, committing to every golf shot and really staying in the present."

Rigel is the younger son of Ivan and Renny Fernandes, of Ashoknagar parish in Mangaluru.

Source: theamerican.org / gousfbulls.com