Kolkata, Feb 3 (PTI) Bengaluru-based amateur Aryan Roopa Anand carded a last round of two-under 68 to finish as the wire-to-wire winner with an impressive six-shot margin in the Final Qualifying Stage of the TATA Steel PGTI Qualifying School here on Friday.
He totalled 20-under 260 (64-63-65-68) at the Tollygunge Club.
Twenty-one-year-old Aryan thus became the first amateur in six years to win the PGTI Qualifying School. The last time an amateur won the Qualifying School was in 2017 by Dhruv Sheoran.
Faridabad’s Karan Pratap Singh (68-65-65-68) finished runner-up at 14-under 266 after he too returned a final round of 70.
Sri Lankan K Prabhagaran (65-71-67-65) took the third place at 12-under 268 following a bogey-free fourth round of 65 to end up as the best performing foreign player.
The cut in the final round went at four-over 284 with the top 34 players earning their full cards for the 2023 TATA Steel PGTI season. Among the six players tied at 32nd, the top three based on count back earned their full cards.
The top 34 included seven amateurs. There were also five foreigners (one each from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, USA and Canada) among the 34 players who earned their full cards.
Aryan, currently the leading amateur in the country and two-time All India Amateur champion, had a slow start with an early bogey on the third but got back into his stride with birdies on the sixth, 10th, 13th, 16th and 17th that included two long conversions from a range of 20 to 30 feet.
He finally crossed the line with a comfortable six-shot margin despite the double-bogey on the 18th hole.
“My win is a big morale-booster. As I look to begin my professional journey, this victory gives me a taste of what it is like to be on top in a professional event,” Aryan said.
“I came into this week with no expectations and just focused on consistency and shooting low scores. I had set certain targets for myself and I was competing against myself rather than anyone else.
“It was a week of clean hitting and even when I was not at my best, I managed to grind it out. I was very pleased with my scoring as the total of 20-under is my personal best at a tournament,” added Anand, who plays at the KGA in Bengaluru.
Runner-up Karan Pratap Singh’s last round saw him make an eagle, three birdies and three bogeys as he bagged the top prize money cheque of Rs. 75,000 for finishing as the best professional.
Source: PTI News
