Quito (Ecuador), May 9 (Golf News) American golfer of Indian descent Manav Shah achieved his breakthrough win at the Quito Open on the PGA TOUR Latinoamérica.

Shah, who was born in the United States after his parents shifted from Mumbai, beat Joel Thelen and Mitchell Meissner by two strokes to annex the title.

Shah led after the first round with a 63 and then slipped in the second and was unable to complete the third on Saturday, when weather forced a suspension of play.

He came out on Sunday morning needing to complete the final six holes of his third round and he posted 4-under 68. He started his final round a couple of hours later and played even better for 66 and won by two.

Shah pulled away from a bunched leader board late in the round, shooting a bogey-free 66.

The win moved Shah to No. 8 on the 'Totalplay Cup Points List' on the PGA Latinoamerica Tour. It puts him in solid position to make a run at the top five with four tournaments remaining in the season. The top five from the List earn a status on Korn Ferry, which is then the passage to the PGA Tour.

On personal front, Shah, who has graduated from UCLA, visits his family in Mumbai, especially maternal grandmother.

"I speak the language (Hindi) also and would love to play in India or Asian Tour in that part of the world." Shah is the second Indian-American to win on a PGA Tour sanctioned Tour. In January this year, Akshay Bhatia, a southpaw, won The Bahamas Great Exuma Classic on the Korn Ferry Tour at Sandals Emerald Bay.

That win had made Bhatia the third-youngest player (19 years and 11 months) to win a Korn Ferry Tour event since the Tour's establishment in 1990. 

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News Source : PTI