Galgorm (N Ireland), Aug 14 (Football News) Aditi Ashok was the lone Indian to get past the second cut at the ISPS Handa World Invitational here.

The 24-year-old from Bengaluru closed birdie-birdie after starting from the 10th to card 71 which helped her get past another cut applied after 54 holes.

She was Tied-34th.

There have been two cuts, the first after 36 holes, at which point Tvesa Malik exited, while after 54 holes Diksha Dagar (73-72-76) missed the second cut as only Top-35 and ties moved ahead for the final round.

Amanda Doherty carded a third round of 72 (-1) to maintain a one-shot lead. The LPGA Tour rookie got off to a slower start at Galgorm with a bogey on the third followed by a birdie on the fourth, before a double bogey on the fifth.

However, the 24-year-old soon got into her groove rolling in three birdies around the turn on holes eight, 10 and 12.

Although Doherty dropped another shot on 14, a birdie on the last meant the American reached 12-under-par to keep her one-shot lead with one round remaining.

England's Georgia Hall and Chinese Taipei's Peiyun Chien sit one shot behind the leader on 11-under-par after 54 holes.

Three players are in a share of fourth place on 10-under-par, including 2022 Race to Costa del Sol leader Maja Stark, who fired a round of 69 (-4).

Stark is joined by American Allisen Corpuz as well as Denmark's Emily Kristine Pedersen, who won the 2020 Race to Costa del Sol, and shot a round of level par on day three.

Sweden's Linn Grant is in seventh place on nine-under-par, while England's Liz Young fired the joint-best round of the day –- a six-under 67 –- to be in T8 with South Africa's Lee-Anne Pace. 

Also Read : India's Shubhankar Sharma shoots 68, moves to tied 12th

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Singapore, Aug 13 (Golf News) India's Shubhankar Sharma made a sharp move up with a solid 4-under 68 to get to 9-under which saw him rise to tied 12th in USD 1.5 million third International Series Singapore here on Saturday.

Sharma's card may have looked even better but for a late bogey on 17th. But he quickly made up for it with a birdie on 18th.

Veer Ahlawat continued to be the top Indian even though he barely made a move on the third day. He had a bogey on second and a birdie on 17th and parred the rest, while missing a handful of birdie chances for an even 72. He stayed at 10-under but slipped from overnight third to tied eighth.

Sharma had six birdies against two bogeys and looked in fine form, setting himself up for a strong challenge on the final day.

Malaysian Gavin Green (72) maintained his lead but was joined by Phachara Khongwatmai (69) from Thailand. They were both at 14-under and led by one over Chinese-Taipei's Chan Shih-chang (66) and Thailand's Nitithorn Thippong (68), who had two eagles.

Nitithorn achieved the rare feat of making two eagles on par fours on the front, on three and nine.

Chan and Nitithorn were a shot behind the leaders, following rounds of 66 and 68 respectively, while England's Steve Lewton came in with a 69 to sit a stroke further back.

Jyoti Randhawa, who turned 50 in May this year, started on the 10th and double bogeyed the 11th. But he quickly turned things around with birdies on 13th, 14th and 18th to make the turn in 1-under 35.

On the second nine he had four birdies between third and eighth for a day's work of 67 as he moved to tied 20th, up from overnight tied 46th. Randhawa's eight Asian Tour wins include one in Singapore more than two decades ago in 2000. He also won once in Japan.

Rashid Khan (71) was tied 41st as was Ajeetesh Sandhu (70), while Gaganjeet Bhullar, winner in Indonesia last week, and SSP Chawrasia, both shot 72 and were tied 57th. Aman Raj, who had a stunning hole in one on the second day shot 73 and was tied 67th. 

Aslo Read : Diksha and Aditi survive cut in Northern Ireland; Doherty leads

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Galgorm, (Northern Ireland), Aug 13 (Golf news) Diksha Dagar and Aditi Ashok ensured Indian presence over the weekend at the ISPS Handa World Invitational as they made the halfway cut in the USD 1.5 million tournament.

Diksha carded an even par 72 at the Massereene Golf Club with four birdies against as many bogeys. Along with her first round 73 on Par-73 Galgorm Castle course, she was even for two rounds and T-45.

Aditi shot an even par 73 following a 1-over 73. She was 1-over for two rounds and T-55.

India’s third player in the field, Tvesa Malik (77-76) missed the cut as she continued to struggle with her form.

Amanda Doherty continued her impressive form shooting a round of 5-under 67 to lead by one shot at the midway mark.

After a first round of six-under at Galgorm Castle, the 24-year-old, followed it up with a round of five-under at Massereene.

Doherty began her round with back-to-back birdies on the second and third holes, and rolled in three more on six, seven and nine.

Despite a dropped shot on the 11th, the LPGA Tour rookie made another birdie on 13 to finish with a total of 11-under-par after 36 holes.

Denmark’s Emily Kristine Pedersen – winner of the 2020 Race to Costa del Sol – and American Lauren Coughlin sit one shot back on 10-under-par.

England’s Cara Gainer sits in outright fourth place after the opening two days of competition on nine-under-par, having produced a round of five under 67 at Massereene.

Three players are in a share of fifth place including England’s Georgia Hall, who produced a hole-in-one on day two as did Finland’s Tiia Koivisto.

Hall sits alongside Ireland’s Leona Maguire and Chinese Taipei’s Peiyun Chien on eight-under-par, American Allisen Corpuz is alone in eighth place one shot further back.

Five players are in a tie for ninth on six-under-par including 2022 Race to Costa del Sol number one and two Maja Stark and Linn Grant.

The cut fell at 1 over with 62 players making it through. 

Also Read : Lahiri starts with 71 as Korea's Si Woo Kim takes lead at St Jude Champs

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Memphis (US), Aug 12 (Golf News) Indian golfer Anirban Lahiri carded a disappointing one-over 71 to lie tied 86th after the first round of the FedEx St. Jude Championship here.

Lahiri, who is coming into the FedExCup Play-offs a week after a Top-10 finish, will need to do a lot of work to get into the weekend.

It was a great day for Asian challenger, Si Woo Kim, who holed out for an amazing eagle from 168 yards and shared the lead at 8-under 62 with American J.J. Spaun.

Sahith Theegala, an American of Indian origin, is in third place at 7-under, while Sepp Straka, KH Lee, Tony Finau, and JT Poston are tied fourth at 6-under.

The 27-year-old Kim, who withdrew from the final round of the Wyndham Championship last weekend due to illness, was in sizzling form at TPC Southwind in Memphis where he capped his day by sinking an approach at the par-4 18th hole with an 8-iron. He had seven other birdies and a lone bogey.

Kim is hoping to become the fourth Korean golfer to win this season and the second successive following young compatriot, Joohyung "Tom" Kim's victory at the Wyndham Championship on Sunday.

Lahiri hit 12 of 18 greens in regulation during his first round. Many of his approaches left him some distance from the pins and he also missed a couple of birdie chances from inside and around 10 feet.

Starting from the 10th, Lahiri bogeyed the 12th but found his first birdie on the 395-yard par-4 15th hole. He hit his approach from 115 yards and set up a birdie. He bogeyed first and fifth and in between birdied third to finish at 1-over.

Kim changed his putting grip midway in the round and it worked as he powered home for an inward 28 to mark a career-low nine-hole score. It was also his first ever sub-par round at TPC Southwind in seven rounds.

Kim's compatriots, KH Lee and 'Tom' Kim Joohyung also enjoyed fast starts with rounds of 64 and 66 respectively to be tied fourth and 18th respectively.

Other Asian players in the FedExCup Playoffs, Korean Sungjae Im and Chinese Taipei's CT Pan, carded scores of 70 and 73 respectively and were in danger of missing the cut.

Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama withdrew from the tournament on Wednesday due to a neck injury.

Tony Finau, who won the 3M Open and Rocket Mortgage Classic back-to-back last month, is amongst those who carded 64s, while current FedExCup No. 1 and World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler returned a disappointing 71.

The top-70 ranked golfers in Memphis will progress into next week's BMW Championship, where the field will be further reduced to 30 players for the season-finale, TOUR Championship.

The PGA TOUR's ultimate prize, the FedExCup, will be awarded in Atlanta where the winner will also earn US$18 million. 

Also Read : PTI

New Delhi, Aug 12 (Hockey News) Young forward Abhishek, who had a memorable outing in the recently-concluded Commonwealth Games, said the focus of the Indian hockey team is to stay in the best shape and form in the run-up to next year's World Cup.

"We all are really eager to return to training and prepare ourselves for the upcoming competitions," Abhishek, who scored two goals in six games in Birmingham, said in a Hockey India (HI) release.

"We all want to improve as a team, and with the World Cup next year, everyone wants to be in the best shape and form in the coming months." The 22-year-old featured in all six games at the CWG, helping India bag a silver medal, after going down to Australia in the summit clash.

"It was quite a memorable experience for me to perform on such a big stage. I learned a lot about my game during the tournament, and understood areas where I can improve upon," Abhishek said.

"We performed as a team throughout the competition, despite facing tough opponents. Every match had a new challenge for us, and we were able to face it head-on. Even though the final against Australia did not go our way, we learned a lot from the match and have to improve upon in training." Abhishek made his debut for India against South Africa at the FIH Pro League earlier this year and played 14 games and performed consistently, based on which he was picked for the CWG squad.

And, the Haryana forward praised and thanked current coach Graham Reid for his advices and suggestions.

"Our Chief Coach Graham Reid had already told me before in training sessions to enjoy the games and to not take too much pressure. This advice really helped me at Commonwealth Games 2022 as I was able to focus on my natural game and was able to play freely," Abhishek said.

"My teammates and coaches told me I performed well considering it was my first major tournament of such scale. There are still a few areas where I have to improve upon, and the Commonwealth Games 2022 experience has motivated me to work even harder to fulfill those shortcomings." The team will return to the National Coaching Camp in Bengaluru on August 29 and will begin preparation for the upcoming FIH Hockey Pro League season which is scheduled to begin in October.

India are scheduled to play New Zealand and Spain at home. 

Also Read : India teen golfer Avani Prashanth reaches round eight in Scotland

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Carnoustie (Scotland), Aug 11 (Golf News) Golfer Avani Prashanth's progress at the Royal and Ancient's Girls Amateur championships here continued as she scored her biggest win in the Round of 16.

The 15-year-old beat the Dutch girl Fleur Van Bleek 5&4 to progress into the quarterfinals.

Earlier in the Round of 32, she beat Italian Rebecca Galasso 3&2.

She will now meet England’s Rachel Gourley, who beat Spain’s Martina Lopez-Lanchares 2-Up.

Avani, playing on a Links Golf Course for only the third time, came through to the Matchplay segment after finishing in Top 64 from a field of 144 players.

With just the topper, Paula Martin Sampedro scoring 2-under for the two rounds, all other scores were over par at the notoriously tough Par-71, which is also an Open venue.

Avani shot 74-76 as she finished 14th and made the matchplay stage at the Carnoustie Golf club, considered as the fourth toughest Golf course in the world.

Apart from Avani, the event had another Indian, Zara Anand (82-82), but she got eliminated with the top 64 out of 144 making the matchplay stage, which is a knockout format.

Avani had been playing in a series of events outside India as she seeks to gain more experience.

Since May, she has played in the Queen Sirikit Cup in Singapore, the Women’s Amateur in Scotland, the Amundi German Masters in Germany on the Ladies European Tour, which is a professional Tour.

She took part in the R&A Junior event where she finished at T-21, and participated in the European Ladies Amateurs as well. 

Also Read : In-form Bhullar, Rashid to lead Indian challenge

Singapore, Aug 10 (Golf News) Gaganjeet Bhullar and Rashid Khan, the winner and runner-up last week on the Asian Tour, will lead a strong Indian challenge at the International Series Singapore.

The USD 1.5 million event has five players inside the world's top 100 and it also includes former Masters champion Patrick Reed.

Bhullar ended a long Indian title drought on the Asian Tour by winning the Mandiri Indonesia Open, even as Rashid finished tied second.

Bhullar will be hoping to maintain the momentum and Rashid will be looking to win his third Asian Tour title, and the first since the 2014 season when he won two times.

The Indian group of 16 is a mix of young and experienced players. Apart from Bhullar and Rashid, the others include Shubhankar Sharma, Shiv Kapur, Viraj Madappa, SSP Chawrasia, Chiragh Kumar, Aman Raj, Ajeetesh Sandhu, S Chikkarangappa, Rahil Gangjee, Honey Baisoya, and Veer Ahlawat.

There are also two legends of Indian golf. One is Jeev Milkha Singh, who this year is a rookie on the Senior's Tour and has had some good finishes including a Top-3 in Germany, with the other being Jyoti Randhawa.

Both Jeev and Randhawa have tasted success in Singapore. Amateur Yash Majumdar also finds a place.

Jeev said, "I am getting a feel of the game once again and am excited as I did well in some of the Senior events. At the end of the day it is a question of putting together a good round and a good week. Singapore has great memories for me and I love the city." Bhullar has 10 wins on the Asian Tour including one co-sanctioned with Europe.

"A win is always great and I am feeling very confident," said Bhullar, one of the current standard bearers of Indian golf. 

Also Read : Refreshed Lahiri eyes good show in FedExCup Playoffs to qualify for Tour Championships

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New Delhi, Aug 10 (Golf News) A rejuvenated Anirban Lahiri is looking to make a late charge to qualify for the year-ending Tour Championships with a good show in FedExCup Playoffs after cleaning up his game during his recent trip back home.

The 35-year-old Indian snapped a poor run of form with a tied eighth finish at the Wyndham Championship on Sunday which has put him in a buoyant mood as he prepares for his fifth Playoffs, starting with the FedEx St. Jude Championship on Thursday.

The next couple of weeks will be crucial for Lahiri as he seeks to qualify for his first-ever appearance in the season-finale, the TOUR Championship, and also a third appearance at the Presidents Cup for the International Team.

"You want to get hot at the right time of the year. There's never a bad time to play well, but if there's ever a good time to play well, it's now," said Lahiri, who begins the post-season in 63rd position on the FedExCup standings, said in a release.

"You can have a pretty average year, but if in your good week, you're in the Playoffs, it will give the entire season a different outlook." The top-125 qualified for the first of three Playoffs event this week, with the top-70 progressing into next week's BMW Championship and finally the top-30 make it to the TOUR Championship which crowns the new FedExCup champion.

Lahiri will also seek to break into the top-8 of the International Team standings by the end of next week to make his third Presidents Cup team. He is currently ranked 15th with two qualifying weeks remaining.

He spent nearly two weeks in India last month to work with long-time coach Vijay Divecha, partly due to him missing four cuts in five appearances since May.

The dismal run spoilt an otherwise strong 2022 which saw him finish an impressive runner-up at TOUR's flagship tournament, THE PLAYERS Championship in March.

He notched another top-10 and two top-15s in his next four starts before his game hit a road bump following a break from competition to welcome the arrival of his son, Avyaan in early May.

"Just felt like I needed to clean up on my game," said Lahiri of his trip home.

"I hadn't been playing my best. So I'm coming in with some rest, with some good work under my belt and looking to make a charge late in the season.

"This is the time of the year to play your best and hopefully make it all the way to the TOUR Championship, that's definitely one of the goals." Talking about his time with coach in India, he said: "I think it was long overdue to see Vijay. We spent a good 10 days or so and we worked on a bunch of different things.

"We looked at my grip, my posture, which has been my long-standing issue and then we also looked at kind of taking those aspects, those factors and finding a way to put it into my pre-shot routine." Travelling on TOUR on a weekly basis can take its toll and Lahiri said spending time at home with his close friends and fellow golfers was the anecdote he needed to recharge his batteries.

"I also spent some time with my friends, which is always chicken soup for my soul and that always makes me feel very upbeat." Lahiri's best finish in the FedExCup was 51st in 2017 and he is aiming to achieve so much more.

Qualifying for the TOUR Championship is a priority as it will open up playing opportunities, especially in the majors and elevated events on the PGA TOUR.

"It's been a very up and down sort of season. I haven't obviously had the consistency that I was looking for or I would like but at the end of the day, the life cycle of the way a lot of the years pan out for professional golfers, you play well in patches," he said.

"Ideally if I go deep into the Playoffs, if I get to the TOUR Championship, in an ideal situation, then I'm looking at a different schedule." 

Also Read : Lahiri finishes 8th ahead of play-offs, Kim wins maiden title at Wyndham

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Greensboro (US), Aug 8 (Golf News) Anirban Lahiri rounded off the week with a 2-under 68 in a tournament that made 20-year-old Korean Joohyung "Tom" Kim a hero.

Kim added to his stature of a rising star with an emphatic five-shot victory over compatriot Sungjae Im and John Huh of the U.S. at the Wyndham Championship here on Sunday.

Lahiri, whose rounds for the week included 66-67-68-68 for a 11-under total, finished tied eighth.

The Indian had five birdies against three bogeys on a day when he missed quite a few chances. Yet he will rise to 66th as the Play-offs start with St. Jude Invitational.

At 20 years, one month and 17 days, Kim became the second-youngest winner since the second World War. The youngest being Jordan Spieth at the 2013 John Deere Classic. He is also the first PGA Tour winner born in the 2000s.

He closed with a stunning final round of 9-under 61, that included an 8-under 27 front nine. He totalled 20-under winning total. His 20-under came after a quadruple bogey on his first hole on the first day.

Kim, who became a temporary member last Sunday, needed to win to be able to play in the lucrative FedExCup Playoffs. 

Also Read : Diksha Dagar, Aditi Ashok miss cut at Women's Open

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Murifield (Scotland), Aug 6 (Golf News) Diksha Dagar and Aditi Ashok missed the halfway cut at the AIG Women's Open here.

Dagar (77-70) and Aditi (73-74) were both 5-over and two shots outside the cut line.

It was a disappointing week for the Indian duo who played well in 18-hole qualifier to earn a place in the last Major of the season. Aditi was playing a record 23rd Major.

Korea's In Gee Chun produced a round of 66 (-5) to climb to the top of the leaderboard at the halfway stage.

The three-time Major champion made the most of the afternoon conditions making two birdies and one bogey on her front nine before rolling in four birdies on her back nine to reach a total of eight-under-par.

And Chun, who leads by one shot, has a goal for the two rounds over the weekend thanks to caddie Dean Herden.

Sweden's Madelene Sagström and South Africa's Ashleigh Buhai sit one shot back in a tie for second place on seven-under-par.

It was an excellent day for three-time LET winner Buhai after she made the turn in 30 (-6) with four birdies and one eagle on her scorecard.

Korea's Inbee Park sits in fourth place on six-under having shot a round of 67 (-4) on day three with Japan's Miyuu Yamashita and Australia's Hannah Green one shot further back in T5.

France's Celine Boutier is in a share of seventh place on four-under-par alongside Australian pair Minjee Lee and Steph Kyriacou, as well as 2019 AIG Women's Open champion Hinako Shibuno.

The cut fell at +3 with 65 players making it through to the final two rounds at Muirfield. 

Also Read : Aditi, Ashok make disappointing start at LPGA tour in Scotland

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Muirfield (Scotland), Aug 5 (Golf News) Indian golfers Aditi Ashok and Diksha Sagar made a disappointing start at the 2022 AIG Women's Open here. The Indians came into this tournament through their qualifiers at North Berwick earlier this week.

Aditi opened with a 2-over 73 and was at T-56, while Diksha scored a 77 and was at T-118th.

The Indians will need a strong second round to keep the hopes alive of making a cut.

Japan's Hinako Shiburo leads the chart as she fired an opening round of 65 (-60) as she had a one-shot lead over American Jessica Korda, who sits alone in second place on five-under-par.

The 23-year-old Shibuno won the Open in 2019 at Woburn, her first event outside her country.

She got off to a quick start with three birdies in a row before dropping a shot on the fourth.

The Japanese star rolled in birdies on the fifth and ninth holes to make the turn in 32 (-4) before making three more birdies and one bogey on her back nine for a round of six-under-par.

Scotland’s Louise Duncan and Mexico’s Gaby Lopez share third place on four-under-par with Lopez having a bogey-free day.

Duncan, who won the Smyth Salver in 2021 at Carnoustie, had an up and down round with two bogeys, four birdies and an eagle for her 67.

Five players are in a tie for fifth place on three-under-par after 18 holes including 2022 Race to Costa del Sol leader Maja Stark, France’s Celine Boutier and England’s Jodi Ewart Shadoff. 

Also Read : Indian-American Aman Gupta finishes 49th, Crocker wins Hero Open

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St. Andrews (Scotland), Aug 1 (Golf News) Indian-American golfer Aman Gupta squandered a promising start to finish a disappointing T-49 at the 2022 Hero Open.

Gupta, who had carded 69 and 63 in the opening two rounds that brought him into Top-10, had a tougher weekend as he shot 77 and 70.

Sean Crocker kept his foot on the pedal and secured his maiden DP World Tour title after holding off Eddie Pepperell to claim a wire-to-wire victory.

Crocker began the day with a two-shot lead but was joined at the top early on as the chasing pack closed in on him.

He led by one at the turn before starting the back nine with three birdies in four holes to reach 22-under par and stretch his advantage to two. Englishman Pepperell set the clubhouse target on 21-under.

Crocker endured a nervous finish as he parred his way home to sign for a closing 68 to win by a single shot.

Crocker, who started the 2022 season with eight missed cuts and a retirement in his first nine events, was visibly relieved as he holed his four-foot par putt at the last to secure the trophy.

Pepperell finished alone in second, one shot behind Crocker after firing a brilliant 65, while home favourite David Law and Adrian Otaegui shared third place on 19 under.

Swede Jens Dantorp and Denmark's Oliver Hundebøll were a shot further back, while another Dane in Søren Kjeldsen, Wilco Nienaber of South Africa and Englishman Callum Shinkwin rounded out the top ten at 17 under. 

Also Read : Jeev drops from third to disappointing 22nd on final day of JCB Seniors golf

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Uttoxeter (England), Aug 1 (Golf News) Indian golfing legend Jeev Milkha Singh faltered in the third and final round of the JCB Senior Championships here as he dropped to T-22.

Jeev, who shot 64 in the first round and then 73 in the second, dropped further with 6-over 78 for a total of 1-under 215 after being 8-under on the first day.

"It was disappointing for sure, but that’s the nature of the game. I enjoyed my events on the Legends Tour and it was great to catch up with a lot of old friends with whom I played on the European Tour. I will be back for sure many of the events I played this year and more,” Jeev said.

Jeev is likely to travel to Japan next where he is scheduled to take part in as many as nine events.

Meanwhile, Germany’s Alex Čejka posted rounds of 69, 66 and 70 to secure the win by two shots ahead of Ireland's Paul McGinley who was second.

Cejka was 11-under with McGinley (70-68-69) at 9-under, while North Ireland's Darren Clarke, the Senior Open winner last week, South Africans Retief Goosen and James Kingston all finished on 8-under par in joint third position.

The German’s last victory on European soil came at the Trophée Lancôme in France on October 2002 and admits that any win is special especially when the leaderboard is full with so many legendary names.

The 51-year-old Cejka’s seniors’ career has been nothing short of a fairy tale.

Last year, he won two major titles at the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship and the Regions Traditions and says that he is happy that he managed to keep cool under the pressure and win another title.

The 1999 Open Champion Paul Lawrie and The Masters champion from 2000 Vijay Singh finished in a tie for sixth position on 7-under par one shot ahead of eight-time European Tour Number One Colin Montgomerie in joint eighth position. 

Also Read : Hero Open: Aman Gupta slips in third round, American Crocker still on top

News Source : PTI

St. Andrews (Scotland), Jul 31 (Golf News) Indian-American golfer Aman Gupta suffered a 14-shot swing from his second to third round as he carded a 5-over 77 after a 9-under 63 on the second in a low-scoring Hero Open here.

Alongside his first round 69, Gupta is now 7-under and at T-49.

However, the other Indian origin golfers such as Julian Suri and Jack Singh Brar both missed the cut.

Sean Crocker's sensational chip-in eagle at the 18th handed him a two-shot lead going into the final round as he bids to secure his maiden DP World Tour title.

The 25-year-old American golfer showed impressive patience on a testing third day to get a 18-under par and remain on course for a smooth victory.

After making four birdies and a single bogey in his opening 12 holes on Saturday, Crocker ran into trouble at the 13th as he could not find a way out of the thick rough after two shots and also had a wall to worry about as he prepared to take his third.

He took time to think about his next step and, instead of taking any risks, he opted for a drop and walked away with a double bogey.

Crocker soon put that to the back of his mind, though, pulling off some battling par saves in breezy conditions before chipping in at the last to sign for a 69.

Sweden's Jeans Dantorp, who is in the second spot, is two shots further back on 16 under par after posting a bogey-free 69.

Dantorp is one ahead of both home favourite David Law and Spaniard Adrian Otaegui.

South African Louis De Jager, Victor Dubuisson of France, Welshman Oliver Farr and England's Eddie Pepperell are all at 14 under and at T-5.

Also Read : Indian trio misses cut at Women’s Scottish Open after disappointing show

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Troon (Scotland), Jul 30 (Golf News) The Indian trio of Aditi Ashok, Diksha Dagar, and Tvesa Malik all drew a blank at the Women's Scottish Open, after missing the halfway cut here.

Aditi (74-74), Diksha (75-76), and Tvesa (77-74) crashed out after the second round as the cut fell at 1-under.

It was a disappointing week for the Indians as Aditi had just one birdie against three bogeys and Tvesa once again bogeyed first and second and despite three birdies later on she had a card of 2-pover 74.

Diksha, on the other hand, double bogeyed the first for the second day running and had three more bogeys on front nine to turn in 5-over. On the back nine, she had three birdies against two bogeys and finished the day with 76.

World number four Lydia Ko produced another bogey-free round of 65 to lead by two shots at the midway mark.

The New Zealander, who began her second round on the 10th tee, had a slower start only making one birdie on her front nine.

However, Ko had an excellent back nine with four birdies and an eagle to put her in pole position on 14-under-par.

Two shots behind Ko in second spot is American Lilia Vu, who carded a round of 67 (-5) to reach a total of 12-under-par after 36 holes.

Vu, a three-time Epson Tour winner rolled in back-to-back birdies on 11 and 12 before dropping a shot on the 17th but soon made up for it with further birdies on two, six, seven and nine.

Korea’s Eun-Hee Ji sits in third place on 11-under-par having fired the joint-best round of the day, along with Sweden’s Johanna Gustavsson, and equalling the course record with a 64 (-8).

Thailand’s Wichanee Meechai and France’s Celine Boutier are in a share of fourth place on 10-under-par having shot rounds of 65 and 69, respectively.

Four players are one shot further back on nine-under-par including Germany’s Leonie Harm, who produced a bogey-free round of 68 on day two.

England’s Georgia Hall and France’s Pauline Roussin are two of the six players in a share of 10th place on eight-under-par. 

Also Read : Indian-American Aman Gupta shoots 63, rises to 8th at Hero Open

News Source : PTI

St. Andrews (Scotland), Jul 30 (Golf News) Indian-American golfer Aman Gupta shot a 9-under 63 to rise up the leaderboard to get into the Top-10 at the halfway stage of the 2022 Hero Open here.

Gupta, playing in his rookie season in Europe, shot 69 in the first round and now with 63 he is 12-under and lying Tied-8th.

Gupta had 10 birdies against one bogey and trails the leader Sean Crocker (63-66) by three shots.

Crocker maintained his narrow one-shot lead after following up Thursday's round of 63 with a bogey-free 66 in round two on what was another low scoring day.

The American made the most of favourable morning conditions to fire six birdies - three on each side of the course – to get to 15 under par.

Although the course record he set in the first round was broken by both his playing partner and home-favourite Ewen Ferguson and afternoon starter Wilco Nienaber of South Africa - who each produced bogey-free rounds of 61 - Crocker still remains in pole position as he vies for his first DP World Tour victory.

"It’s always tough to come back out the next day after playing really well. It was a little bit calming and nice to get out there, get off to a decent start, and just keep plodding along through the golf course," Crocker said.

"I just want to have some fun, have some laughs on the golf course, hit good golf shots and see what the total adds up to at the end of the week," he added.

Scotland’s Scott Jamieson is alone in second spot on 14 under after 36 bogey-free holes, one stroke ahead of his compatriot David Law, English pair Jonathan Thomson and Ross Fisher, Sweden's Jens Dantorp, and Spaniard Adrian Otaegui.

Five players, including new joint-course record holder Nienaber, are one shot further back on 12 under par. 

Also Read : Disappointing start for Indian trio at Women’s Scottish Open

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Troon (Scotland), Jul 29 (Golf News) India's Aditi Ashok (74), Diksha Dagar (75) and Tvesa Malik (77) started their campaign on a disappointing note at the Trust Golf Women’s Scottish Open.

With Korea’s Hye-Jin Choi firing a course record of 8-under 64, the Indians would need low second rounds to make the cut at the event which is co-sanctioned by the LPGA and the Ladies European Tour.

Aditi was T-97, while Diksha was T-122 and Tvesa was T-127.

Aditi had just one birdie against three bogeys, while Diksha had three birdies but those were negated by two bogeys and two doubles on first and second.

Tvesa, who went home to take a break was, once again, in for disappointment with one birdie against six bogeys.

The 22-year-old Hye began her round with two pars before making a bogey on the third hole, but after that she found her rhythm and rolled in an eagle on the fifth.

Choi then made three consecutive birdies on holes seven through nine before adding four more on her back nine including on the 18th to reach eight-under-par.

Three players are tied for second place just one shot back with France’s Celine Boutier, American Lilia Vu and New Zealand’s Lydia Ko all on seven-under-par.

It was a bogey-free day for Boutier, who rolled in four birdies on the front nine and three on the back nine and contended with the heavy mid-afternoon rainfall. It was a similar day for world number four Lydia Ko, who also produced a bogey-free round at Dundonald Links.

Two players sit in a share of fifth place with England’s Georgia Hall and Korea’s Narin An both producing rounds of six-under 66. 

Also Read : Indian-American Aman Gupta shoots 69 in first round of Hero Open

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St Andrews (Scotland), Jul 29 (Golf News) Indian-American golfer Aman Gupta turned in three-under 69 to lie T-57th at the end of the first day of the 2022 Hero Open at Fairmont St Andrews here.

Sean Crocker shot a superb course-record round of nine-under 63 to lead by a single shot.

A dozen players shot seven-under 65 or better. Crocker was the sole leader, while Frenchman Romain Langasque, English duo of Ben Stow and Ashley Chesters, Swede Jens Dantorp and Spaniard Adrian Otaegui were in a tie for second spot on eight-under.

Another group of six players, including home favourites David Law and Connor Syme were one shot further back.

Indian-American Julian Suri carded one-over 73 and Jack Singh Brar (74) are lying far back and will need a solid second round to make the cut.

American Crocker, 25, picked up six shots in five holes on the front nine after going birdie-birdie-birdie-eagle-birdie from the third.

After dropping his only shot of the day at the 10th, he made four birdies in his next five holes to get to nine-under par. 

Also Read : Tvesa joins Aditi and Diksha at the Women’s Scottish Open

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Birmingham, Jul 28 (Cricket News) Indian women's cricket team captain Harmanpreet Kaur wants her players to develop the "killing attitude" that champion teams of the past possessed.

India are still some distance away from becoming world beaters but all the players who are here for the Commonwealth Games have bought into an idea suggested by all-rounder Pooja Vastrakar during the Sri Lanka tour last month.

Harmanpreet, who began her all-format captaincy stint with the Sri Lanka series, feels a ruthless approach is needed even when the chips are down.

"During the Sri Lanka tour, we had a meeting with the players. I asked the girls how they want the team to play. Pooja gave a good answer about the killing attitude.

"Right now we are working on that whether we are training or playing. Everyone is talking about that in the team. All players have bought into this and Pooja is someone who comes up with funny ideas all the time," said Harmanpreet on the eve of the opener against Australia at the Birmingham Games.

Pooja however is not part of the team yet as she was forced to stay back in India after returning a positive COVID-19 test a day before the squad's departure for Birmingham.

"She has been doing well for the past one year. Normally senior players give a lot of ideas but she came up with this and spoke about it and I really liked it." India had an optional training session on Thursday with six players travelling to Edgbaston.

Harmanpreet, who was seen swinging golf clubs during training on Wednesday, stayed back in the team hotel. With the team having a morning game, it is unlikely that it will go for the opening ceremony on Thursday night.

"Things are looking well. We have got three practice sessions so far. We are in great shape. The conditions will help the bowlers but it will be good for batting as well. However, we just need to worry about the execution," said the skipper.

The team will be looking to form the right balance in the T20 format.

"We have a balanced side and we need to shuffle our batting and bowling here and there for the right combination." With women's cricket making its CWG debut, all eight teams are staying in the same hotel which has been converted into a village. The players have been going out for meals from their city centre hotel and getting used to the Games vibe.

Barring all captains, players of the eight teams have been sharing rooms which they otherwise don't need to during bilateral series.

"Staying in the village is different from usual. We are enjoying and adapting and are getting used to it," said Harmanpreet.

The Australia clash will be followed by the big game against Pakistan on July 31.

"We know the stakes are high but when you are playing you just think about doing well on the day. When we were kids we have seen the men's Indo-Pak games. We used to get excited as kids but as players these things don't matter," she added. 

Also Read : BCCI should allow Indian cricketers to participate in foreign T20 leagues: Gilchrist

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Troon (Scotland), Jul 27 (Golf News) Indian golfer Tvesa Malik hopes her return to action after a short gap at the women's Scottish Open will end her none-too-good run this season on the Ladies European Tour.

Tvesa, who was in Top-20 of the LET Order of Merit last season, has been struggling to make cuts and finishing way down on the leaderboard this season.

Now she hopes her fortunes will turn as she tees up at the Dundonald Links in Troon as the Scottish summer of golf continues.

The other Indians in the field are Aditi Ashok and Diksha Dagar.

With the event being co-sanctioned by the LPGA, this is a great chance for the European players wanting to move to the LPGA. Also, the fact that it comes ahead of the AIG Women's Open means a chance to get into the field for the Major.

Aditi comes to Europe after numerous starts with modest results on the LPGA, while Diksha Dagar, after some moderate results, had Top-20 finishes in Amundi German Masters and Big Green Egg Open.

Aditi will play with Yealimi Noh of the US and Swiss golfer, Kim Metraux, while Tvesa plays with the 2019 Hero Women's Indian Open winner Christine Wolf, who is back after a four-month break from golf, and Allisen Corpusz of the US.

Diksha Dagar tees off in the company of Scot Hannah McCook and Lauren Stephenson of the US.

Austria’s Wolf has not featured on the LET after the season’s curtain-raiser at the Magical Kenya Ladies Open. She then put aside her golf bag and traveled through South America.

"It's something I've always wanted to do and I felt like it's a good time to step away for a little bit, and come back more motivated than ever. Our world has so much to offer and I am so grateful I got to do this trip and put some things in perspective as well," she said.

After four months on the road, Dundonald Links is her first destination back on tour. 

Also Read : Aditi Ashok misses cut at Evian Championship in France

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Evian-les-Bains (France), Jul 24 (Golf News) Indian golfer Aditi Ashok missed the cut at the Evian Championship after carding a one-over 72 in the second round here.

Aditi, who made a record 22nd Major appearance, needed a birdie on the final hole to stay on in the event but failed to do so as the cut fell at even-par.

Canadian Brooke Henderson continued her fine run as she carded a 3-under 68 in the third round to hold on to her top position in the leaderboard.

The 24-year-old, who is aiming for a second major title of her professional career, is at 17-under, two strokes clear of two-time major champion So Yeon Ryu of Korea and four strokes ahead of LPGA Tour rookie Sophia Schubert of USA.

For Schubert, this could be a true breakthrough moment in her five-year professional career.

After reaching the LPGA Tour by finishing fourth on the Epson Tour’s 2021 Race for the Card, the 27-year-old American has struggled through her rookie season, missing five cuts and only finishing inside the top-15 one time.

But she closed her third round with four consecutive birdies to take a spot in Sunday’s penultimate group.

Five players are tied for sixth at 11-under, including No. 1 Jin Young Ko and No. 3 Nelly Korda.

Korda entered the day in solo second but dropped off the pace with a round of even-par 71 on Saturday. 

Also Read : Jeev Milkha Singh makes early exit on Senior Open debut in Scotland

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Gleneagles (Scotland), Jul 24 (Golf News) Indian golfing legend Jeev Milkha Singh carded a second successive 75 to bow out early on his Senior Open debut here on Sunday.

Coming into the tournament after securing a third-place finish at the Winstongolft Open in Germany, Jeev was unable to get his game together and missed a series of putts.

"It just did not happen this week and I was quite disappointed considering it was a Major and my first Senior Open and the golf course is a great one," Jeev said.

"I have never played the Kings Course, but it was a great one and a fine challenge for golf. Hopefully I will be able to make some other time here," he added.

Meanwhile, Darren Clarke (65-67-69), who entered day three with a two-shot advantage, extended his lead to three just after the turn.

But as rain began to pour on the King's Course, the Northern Irishman made back-to-back bogeys and a hat-trick of gains sent 2016 champion Paul Broadhurst (65-70-66) to the summit as he signed for a 66.

Clarke had played beautifully all day without seeing the putts drop but after some deep study of an eight-footer on the final green, he made a closing birdie to sign for a 69 and share top spot at nine-under.

So, Broadhurst and Clarke shared the lead heading into the final round after a dramatic day in tough conditions at Gleneagles.

Kiwi Steven Alker and American Jerry Kelly were a shot off the lead, two clear of former Ryder Cup captains Pádraig Harrington and Colin Montgomerie, four-time Major Champion Ernie Els, Australian Stuart Appleby and Thailand's Thongchai Jaidee.

Clarke is looking to be just the fourth player after Gary Player, Bob Charles and Tom Watson to win both The Open and Senior Open and he is determined to get over the line after leading for 36 holes last year and finishing third behind Stephen Dodd.

Clarke said: "Tomorrow I give myself an opportunity again. I did it last year and I gave myself an opportunity. Felt like I didn't quite play well enough on the Sunday.

"Doddy came through and played great. Hopefully hit a couple more putts and give myself a better chance coming down the last few holes." Jaidee and Appleby also carded rounds of 67, Montgomerie birdied his last three holes in a 68, and Els and Harrington both signed for 69s. 

Also Read : Jeev Milkha Singh to miss cut at his maiden Senior British Open

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Gleneagles (Scotland), Jul 22 (Golf News) India's Jeev Milkha Singh is likely to exit earlier than expected as he was unable to find his way back after a disappointing 5-over on the first day of the Senior British Open golf.

Playing in his first season on the senior circuit (for over 50s), Jeev was third last week in Germany, but here at the King’s Course at the Gleneagles, he just did not get going.

Jeev found his first birdie of the day on the Par-5 10th after dropping three shots on the front nine. But, he gave away that shot on the very next hole and was once again 3-over for the day and 7-over after 29 holes.

With the 36-hole cut likely to fall at 3-over, it could be curtains for Jeev.

Meanwhile, the 2011 Open champion Darren Clarke, who shot 5-under 65 on the opening day, added 3-under 67 and led the field at 8-under. He was three shots clear of six players who were at 5-under. The group included four-time Major winner Ernie Els, who has two US Open and two British Open wins against his name.

David Frost was the other player to have finished at a total of 5-under with 67-68, while four players -- overnight co-leader Stephen Ames, Jerry Kelly, Miguel Angel Martin and Kent Jones -- were all 5-under but were yet to finish their rounds. 

Also Read : Seher edges past Neha in second round of Hero WPGT 10th leg

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Bengaluru, Jul 21 (Golf News) Determined to end her string of runner-up finishes, Seher Atwal played a fine back nine and carded two-under 70 in the second round to edge past overnight co-leader Neha Tripathi (71) in 10th leg of the Hero Women's Pro Golf Tour here on Thursday.

Sneha Singh, playing only her second tournament as a professional, shot a second straight 71 and was placed third at two-under 142, while Nayanika Sanga also shot one-under 71 to be fourth at one-under 143 for two rounds at the Prestige Golfshire course.

Pranavi Urs made some amends for her first round of 76 with a three-under 69 that saw her rise to fifth place at one-over 145, but still five shots behind the leader, Seher.

Seher, who was runner-up in the eighth and ninth legs of the Hero WPG Tour, made a slow start with one birdie against two bogeys for one-over in the front nine, while Neha Tripathi had one birdie and one bogey to get into sole lead.

On the back nine, Seher birdied three times on 11th, 14th and 15th and had no bogeys while Neha also had no bogeys but only one birdie on the 18th. That handed Seher a morale boosting one-shot lead going into the final round.

Sneha had back-to-back birdies on third and fourth and then back-to-back bogeys on seventh and eighth to turn in even par. On the back nine she birdied 10th, and then had eight straight pars to finish at 71.

Nayanika Sanga had three birdies on front nine and one double bogey on back nine.

Pranavi birdied first, seventh, 16th and 18th and dropped just one shot on Par-4 fourth as she played steady throughout the day.

Gaurika Bishnoi, following her first round 73 with another similar card, was sixth while Hitaashee Bakshi (76-71), Jyotsana Singh (76-71), Gauri Karhade (73-74) and amateur Vidhatri Urs (71-76) were all tied for seventh. 

Also Read : Neha shares lead with Seher after first round in 10th leg of Hero WPGT

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Bengaluru, Jul 20 (Golf News) Neha Tripathi carded a two-under 70 in the opening round to enjoy a share of the lead in the 10th leg of the Hero Women's Pro Golf Tour here on Wednesday.

Neha, who has not won on the Hero Women's Pro Golf Tour since the first leg of the 2019 season, shared the lead with Seher Atwal at the Prestige Golfshire.

Three players, amateur Vidhatri Urs, Sneha Singh and Ishvari Prasanna carded one-under 71 each, while two other players, Nayanika Sanga and Shweta Mansingh scored even par 72 each to be tied sixth.

Gaurika Bishnoi, who had a triple bogey eighth on the Par-5 third and Ananya Datar, were Tied-eighth with 73 each, while Saaniya Sharma and Gauri Karhade shot two-over 74 each to be Tied-10th.

Neha, who has been playing on-and-off on the Ladies European Tour, had five birdies on first, sixth, ninth, 11th and 16th and dropped shots on eighth, 13th and 15th.

Seher, who won last year in Pune and was runner-up in her last two starts, also shot 70 despite suffering a double bogey on the Par-5 16th, which was her only blemish on the day.

She had four birdies on first, sixth, 10th and 14th, at which point she was four-under before the double bogey saw her drop.

Four-time winner this season, Pranavi Urs had a rough day as she had three double bogeys and a bogey against three birdies in a card of four-over 76 that placed her T-13.

However, Pranavi has shown an ability to fight back over the last two days and this may well be yet another occasion. 

Also Read : Vani Kapoor finishes career-best tied 3rd in Netherlands

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Arnhem (The Netherlands), Jul 18 (Golf News) Indian golfer Vani Kapoor recorded a career-best result on the Ladies European Tour, finishing tied third in the 2022 Big Green Egg Open here.

Kapoor, whose lone Top-10 finish was a tied-sixth spot at the Hero Women's Indian Open in 2017, lost her form and status on the LET, but has worked hard to get back into the tour.

Kapoor, who shot 69-70-71 in the first three rounds, added 73 in the final round to total five-under, just two shots shy of Anna Nordqvist, a three-time Major winner.

Nordqvist carded an even par 72 to finish one shot clear of Sarah Schober (72), as three players Kapoor, Sophia Witt (67) and Nuria Iturrioz (72) were tied for the third spot.

Diksha Dagar, who was also in the running after the first two rounds, dropped to T-17 with a final round of 77, that included four bogeys between sixth and 12th and then a double on Par-5 17th.

Amandeep Drall (76) finished T-48 while Ridhima Dilawari (74) was T-57.

Kapoor had a bogey on the second, before she earned a shot back with a birdie on the eighth. Another dropped shot on the 14th saw her fall a shot back behind the leading pair once again.

She eventually recorded the best finish of her career, just as it was for Witt, who shot five-under for the week.

Momoka Kobori's strong performances in Europe continued with a sixth-place finish on -4. The final round score of 72 was enough to keep the New Zealander in the top 10, while Whitney Hillier finished seventh on -3 after a final round 73 (+1).

Having gone into the final round with a slender one shot advantage, Nordqvist had to hold off challenge from a number of golfers throughout the day to get her hands on the trophy.

A level-par round of 72 was enough for Schober to secure a career-best finish on the LET. She finished the week on six-under par. 

Also Read : Jeev warms up for Senior Open with third place finish in Germany

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Vorbeck (Germany), Jul 18 (Golf News) India's Jeev Milkha Singh, playing his first year on the Legends Tour (for over 50), secured his first top-3 result at the Winstongolf Senior Open here.

Jeev, who will feature in his first Senior Open next week at Gleneagles, finished the final round with a superb 5-under 67 for a total of 6-under 210. His first two rounds were 70-73 at the 54-hole tournament.

Jeev, who started the week with a terrible run of a bogey and a double bogey in his first nine, improved thereafter with five birdies on his second nine which was the front side of the Winstongolf Championship course.

He carded 70 on first day and then added 73 on the second day, when his card included a double bogey.

On the final day, he played seven pars for a start and then birdied eighth and ninth. On the back nine, he birdied 14th and 15th but dropped a shot on 16th and the closed birdie-birdie for 67.

“I have been playing well. I was a bit underweather the previous week when I finished T-56 (in Switzerland) but my game had started turning after the first two rounds. I shot 69 in the final round,” said Jeev.

“Today I was quite close to getting into a play-off, where Richard Green beat Philip Archer.

“The is my best result and best performance since becoming a Senior rookie golfer after turning 50 at the end of last year. I am very proud of my performance this week.” Jeev said he has been putting well and recently got a tip from an old friend, Michael Campbell from New Zealand. “He told me a couple of things and it helped. He is a former US Open champion.” This week’s tied-third finish performance earned Jeev €21,000 and carried him up to 35th place in the 2022 Legends Tour Order of Merit. He was 84th at the start of the week, so it was an upward move of 49 places. 

Also Read : Aditi-Pajaree finish 24th in Great Lakes Invitational

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Midland, (US), Jul 17 (Golf News) The Indo-Thai par of Aditi Ashok and Pajaree Annanarukarn finished T-24 despite a 7-under final round of the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational here.

In an event where Aditi and Pajaree finished third a year ago, they shot 72-62-69 in the three rounds.

Personally, Aditi had a good round as she closed with five birdies, three of them in the last four holes. She will now take this form to Europe, which has two Majors -- Evian Championship and AIG Women’s Open with the Scottish Open in the next three weeks.

Aditi is confirmed for the Evian and the Scottish Open events.

Jennifer Kupcho and Lizette Salas won the event, closing with a 9-under 61 in best-ball play for a five-stroke victory in the LPGA Tour's lone team event.

The U.S. Solheim Cup partners finished at 26-under 254 at Midland Country Club. Kupcho won for the third time this year and in her career, while Salas won her second tour title.

Matilda Castren and Kelly Tan were second after a 62 as Stacy Lewis and Maria Fassi shot a 59 to finish third at 20-under. Cheyenne Knight and Elizabeth Szokol had a 61 to match Tiffany Chan and Haeji Kang at 19 under Chan and Kang shot a 62.

The 51-year-old Annika Sorenstam and Madelene Sagstrom, tied for the first-round lead, closed with a 66 to tie for 28th at 11 under.

The tournament ended Saturday so players could head to France for the fourth major of the year at the Evian Championship, which will start the European portion of the LPGA Tour schedule. 

Also Read : Vani, Diksha lie third in Netherlands on Ladies European Tour

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Arnhem (the Netherlands), Jul 16 (Golf News) Indian duo of Diksha Dagar and Vani Kapoor were well placed at Tied-third midway through the Big Green Egg Open golf tournament.

Diksha, who was lying third after the first round 70, added a 71, while Vani, who opened with 71, shot 70 in the second round. They are now five-under and three shots behind the leader, Whitney Hillier.

Hillier shot a second successive round of four-under 68 and is now eight-under at the halfway mark. The 31-year-old Hillier is chased by Sarah Schober (67-70) at the top of the leader board.

Among other Indians, Amandeep Drall (73-72) at T-30 and Ridhima Dilawari (74-76) at T-45 also made the cut. Neha Tripathi (79-76) missed the cut.

In the second round, Kapoor registered 15 consecutive pars after starting on the tenth tee, before finding two birdies in her final three holes to shift up the leader board.

"I played pretty solid, I was hitting fairways and greens but didn't give myself enough chances - I wasn't hitting it that close - but I was just hoping that sometimes a putt would drop and they did on the 7th and 8th so that was nice," she said.

"It's a very tight course and you have to place your ball and be very careful, so that's what my plan was - to play fairway, green, fairway, green - and hopefully the putts drop.

"I'm a very accurate player and don't miss too many fairways, so I guess that's what's helping me out here. Its one of the tightest courses we played at it seems to be suiting me." For the second day running Dagar came flying out the blocks with early birdies on the eleventh and twelfth, putting her name at the top, before dropping a shot on the par-five 15th.

A birdie on the 17th soon got her back on track, only for a dropped shot on the ninth - her final hole of the day - seeing her sit three shots off the lead with the weekend still to come.

"The difference today was that my putts didn't go in, and I had troubles with my club selection and some of my shots were short," Dagar said.

"I started really well and made some long putts but then I made some silly mistakes later in my round. I had some trouble on the first par-five on the back nine and then had some bad breaks on my final two holes.

"I had a good bunker shot on the ninth that lipped out, then the putt was breaking the opposite way. Some of the greens were tricky today.

"It's very good for me and Vani to be near the top, I’m always happy to see Indians doing well, for her to be on five-under as well, that's good golf." Amateurs Alexandra Försterling and Mayka Hoogeboom share fifth spot with Nuria Iturrioz as Saturday approaches, with all three catching the eye on a tough day for scoring in The Netherlands. 

Also Read : Pranavi keeps Seher at bay to win season's 4th Hero WPGT title

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Bengaluru, Jul 15 (Golf News) Pranavi Urs struck form just when it was most needed as she fired four birdies in a span of five holes on the back nine in the final round to win the ninth leg of the Hero Women's Pro Golf Tour at the Bangalore Golf Club here on Friday.

Her fourth win of the season extended her lead at the top of the Hero Order of Merit.

Pranavi shot two-over 71 with four birdies against six bogeys and totalled two-over 209, while Seher Atwal (71) with one birdie against two bogeys, aggregated five-over 212.

The scoring and conditions were tougher this week as none of the players finished with an under-par total and there were only two under par rounds, one each by Pranavi and Seher in the tournament.

Starting the final round with a three-shot lead at the Par-69 Bangalore Golf Club course, Pranavi overcame an early charge from Seher over the first 10 holes.

As Seher lost momentum, Pranavi came into her own and raced to victory by three shots despite a bogey-bogey finish.

Seher was two-over for the front nine, while Pranavi was three-over. That cut the lead by one. On the 10th, Pranavi bogeyed again, while Seher birdied the hole for a two-shot swing which saw the two level with eight holes to go.

Then between the 12th and 16th Pranavi birdied four times and Seher managed only pars.

As Pranavi bogeyed the last two holes, Seher dropped a shot on the 18th and Pranavi was three ahead, as she was at the start of the day, but by now the trophy and the winner's cheque was also hers.

Pranavi, who feels she is fully fit and ready to go full throttle, won the first, fourth and seventh legs before this week. She was also second in the fifth and eighth legs. In short, she has finished first or second in six of the nine legs held so far.

As Seher finished second for the second time in succession, Hitaashee Bakshi, winner of third and sixth legs, was third. Hitaashee carded 72 for a total of 215.

Sneha Singh, winner of fourth Hero WPGT title as an amateur, finished fourth in her professional debut. She carded the final round's best score of even par 69 and finished with a total of 216.

Oviya Reddi (70) and Gaurika Bishnoi (71) were tied for fifth and Afshan Fatima (73) and Nayanika Sanga (76) were tied seventh. Amateur Jasmine Shekar (72) was ninth while Gauri Karhade (74) and Ananya Datar (76) were tied 10th.

The 10th leg of the Hero WPG Tour will also be held in Bangalore, but at the Prestige Golfshire from July 20-22. 

Also Read : Adit-Pajaree duo lie T-22nd at Great Lakes Bay Invitational golf

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Midland (US), Jul 15 (Golf News) Indian golfer Aditi Ashok, playing with Thai Pajaree Anannarukarn, moved to tied-22nd after the second round of the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational tournament, a team event on the LPGA Tour here.

Aditi and Pajaree, who finished tied-third a year ago at this event, put up a vastly improved performance in the second round as they tallied eight-under in better-ball after a two-over showing in alternate-shot play on the first day.

On three of the holes, both players birdied, while Aditi's birdies on fourth, fifth and 11th added to the gains.

Pajaree added to the kitty with her own birdies on ninth and 14th, which the Indian parred. There were eight holes where both parred and once when Aditi bogeyed 16th, Pajaree saved the situation with a par.

Meanwhile, Pauline Roussin made a hole-in-one and teamed up with fellow rookie Dewi Weber to take a three-stroke after the second round.

The first round leader, the legendary Annika Sorenstam and Madelene Sagstrom, fell five shots behind the leaders.

The 51-year-old Sorenstam and Sagstrom shot an opening five-under 65 in alternate-shot play on Wednesday.

They had 65 on first day and 66 on second. Roussin and Weber had a 61 at Midland Country Club in the better-ball round to reach 14-under 126. The pair had 65 on the first day and are now 14-under as against 11-under total for Jennifer Kupcho and Lizette Salas, who shot 68-61.

The teams will play alternate shots in the third round and finish on Saturday with better ball.

Sorenstam is making her second LPGA Tour start of the year and only her third since retiring after the 2008 season.

The Hall of Famer missed the cut in the US Women's Open last month and then tied for fourth last week in Nevada in the mostly male American Century Championship.

Roussin, the Frenchwoman playing on Bastille Day and her mother's birthday, aced the par-3 seventh with a 46-degree wedge. 

Also Read : Suchitra Ramesh lies T-40 at Trust Golf Link Series

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North Berwick, July 15 (Golf News) Indian golfer Suchitra Ramesh shot a 6-over 78 in the opening round of the Trust Golf Link Series to finish at T-40 here at the end of the first day.

Germany's Patricia Isabel Schmidt and Chiara Noja have shared the lead after firing rounds of four-under 68 each.

Both Schmidt and Noja are one shot clear of the chasing pack heading into round of the competition.

The English duo of Gemma Clews and Amy Taylor are tied in third place at three-under 69 while Czech Republic's Sara Kouskova is another shot back after the opening round.

At one-under-par 71 are Thailand’s Arpichaya Yubol, Scotland’s Kirsty Mitchell, and Italy’s Clara Manzalini as the three share the sixth spot. Wales’ Lea Anne Bramwell and Dutch Lizzy Peeters round out the top 10 at level-par. 

Also Read : India's Diksha lies T-3, Vani T-5 in Big Green Open golf in Netherlands

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Arnhem, (The Netherlands), Jul 15 (Golf News) India's Diksha Dagar got off to a flying start in the opening round with a superb card of four-under 68 that placed her tied-third at the Big Green Egg Open golf tournament here.

Diksha, the 2019 Investec Women's South Africa Open winner, was just one shot adrift of co-leaders Sarah Schober and Liz Young, who had opening round scores of 67 (-5) at the Rosendaelsche Golf Club in the Netherlands.

Another Indian in fray Vani Kapoor (69) was tied-fifth, while Ridhima Dilawari (72) was T-28, Amandeep Drall (73) was T-41 and Neha Tripathi (79) was T-111.

Diksha opened with a par but then birdied the next three to get to three-under in four. Another birdie on ninth saw her turn in four-under 32.

On the back nine, she birdied 12th and 17th but dropped shots on 10th and 13th.

Diksha was delighted with her performance on the greens.

"It was a really good day. I've been working on my putting and I was feeling confident about my putts so I was making more of them, and that was helping my hitting too," she said.

"Because I've been practising I found it easier to read the greens and find the lines. My hitting was also very good, I was able to attack the flag and make the putts. I was only in the rough once but I was lucky that I had a good lie so I was able to make par from there, otherwise I was hitting all the fairways." Vani had a slow start with one bogey on the front nine, but then had five birdies against just one more bogey for a fine round of three-under 69 that put her inside Top-5.

Ridhima started from the 10th had three birdies against one double bogey and one bogey.

Sitting one shot behind co-leaders Schober and Young are Dagar and Whitney Hillier, with the duo both shooting 68 (-4) as they made the most of the fine weather.

Local hopes lie with Pasqualle Coffa after the opening round with the Dutch star shooting 69 (-3) to sit three shots off the lead.

Four others including Vani shot 69. 

Also Read : Indian Golfer Pranavi extends lead in 9th leg of Hero WPGT

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Bengaluru, Jul 14 (Golf News) Overnight leader Pranavi Urs extended her lead as Seher Atwal faltered towards the fag end of second round under rainy conditions in the 9th leg of Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour here on Thursday.

The conditions at the Bangalore Golf Club made scoring difficult.

Seher, who started the day one shot behind Pranavi, caught up with the leader at the turn.

Pranavi, playing with Seher, birdied the sixth, as did the latter. Then Pranavi dropped shots on eighth and ninth to be 1-over for the front nine, while Seher was even. At that stage, both were on level terms at 2-under through 27 holes at the Par-69 Bangalore Golf Club.

On the back nine, Pranavi was steady with pars from 10th to 16th before dropping a shot on the par-5 17th, but Seher dropped a shot on 11th and then bogeyed 15th and double bogeyed the Par-5 17th to fall three behind the leader.

Pranavi carded 2-over 71 to be even par 138 for 36 holes while Seher shot 4-over 73 to get to 3-over 141.

Hitaashee Bakshi (70), with the day’s second best round, climbed up to sole third, while Nayanika Sanga (69) had the day’s best card and was fourth. Ironically, Nayanika started with a double bogey and a bogey on the first two holes but then picked birdies on fourth, sixth and 15th to finish even par.

It was not a great second round for the newly-minted pro Sneha Singh, who followed up her first round 72 with a 75 and was fifth.

Gaurika Bishnoi (76-72) and Ananya Datar (74-74) were tied for sixth as Oviya Reddi (75-74), Afshan Fatima (74-75) and amateur Vidhatri Urs (73-76) were tied for eighth.

On a day when it rained, the Par-4 sixth produced the highest birdies and the Par-5 17th took the highest toll with numerous bogeys.

The cut fell at 157 and 24 players, including four of the five amateurs who started, made it through. 

Also Read : Diksha Dagar, Amandeep Drall to lead Indian challenge in Netherlands

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Arnhem (the Netherlands), Jul 13 (Golf News) Diksha Dagar and Amandeep Drall will spearhead the five-player strong Indian challenge at the Big Green Egg Open on the Ladies European Tour here this week.

The other Indians in the field are Vani Kapoor, Ridhima Dilawari and Neha Tripathi.

Tvesa Malik, who has been in poor for some time now, has gone back to reset her game with her coaches in India.

Two weeks ago, Dagar, the gold medallist at the Deaflympics this year, was T-16, indicating that she was finding her form.

Amandeep Drall has been slowly but steadily working on her game and last week, she was the best Indian at T-37 at the Estrella Damm Ladies Open. She has been making a lot of cuts, but needs to get her first Top-10 of the year.

Swedish superstar Anna Nordqvist is looking to start her summer in the best possible way at the Big Green Egg Open. The three-time Major champion is the star attraction at Rosendaelsche Golf Club this week, as she looks to head into the crunch part of the season in the finest form.

With the Amundi Evian Championship just around the corner, Nordqvist has taken the opportunity to adjust to familiar surroundings earlier than most, with two weeks spent with family back in Sweden before teeing it up this week.

She is also looking forward to competing in the Netherlands, and getting back in the swing of things after some time away from the course.

The innovative format this week sees local amateurs join the field over the weekend once the cut has been made, with young Dutch talent able to tee it up with some of the world’s best. 

Also Read : Amandeep ends 37th in Spain, Ciganda wins title by 2 shots

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Sitges (Spain), Jul 11 (Golf News) Indian golfer Amandeep Drall could not make up for the two bogeys and a double in her first eight holes as she carded a disappointing 1-over 73 in the final round to finish a modest T-37 at the Estrella Damm Ladies Open.

Amandeep finished with an even par 288 for four days, while her compatriot Vani Kapoor had an even par 72 and finished at 3-over 291 and T-50.

The other Indians in the field Diksha Dagar, Tvesa Malik, Neha Tripathi and Ridhima Dilawari had missed the cut.

Local star Carlota Ciganda completed a wire-to-wire victory for her sixth LET title at Club de Golf Terramar.

The Spanish star, who had previously won the event in 2019, held a four stroke advantage heading into the final round and seemed to be on the cusp of a comfortable victory. She managed to hold on for a two-shot win.

Argentinian Magdalena Simmermacher, who began the day five shots off the pace, picked up shots at the first and third holes and then made a run of four straight birdies from the eighth through to the 11th to gain the outright lead after Ciganda double bogeyed the ninth hole.

However, a three-putt bogey from Simmermacher on the long 12th hole ended her rally and from that point, Ciganda fought for every single shot and rallied back.

Ciganda birdied the 12th and made a great sand save at the 13th, holing a clutch putt from 20 feet. Although she slipped out and made a bogey on 14, she closed out in some style, with an eagle on 16th, a birdie on 17th and then a bogey on 18th for a final round of 70 and a 72-hole total of 270, 18-under-par.

Scotland’s Laura Beveridge, who fired a 66, ended two strokes behind for her career-best finish of second, a week after her tie for fourth in the Amundi German Masters. Simmermacher and Elin Arvidsson of Sweden finished in joint third on 15-under-par.

Sweden’s Maja Stark finished in fifth place, extending her lead in the season-long Race to Costa del Sol. 

Also Read : Amandeep Drall shoots 71 to improve to 32nd place in Spain

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Sitges (Spain), Jul 10 (Golf News) Indian golfer Amandeep Drall continued her steady run at the Estrella Damm Ladies Open as she carded a 1-under 71 to move up to T-32 after the third round of the Ladies European Tour event.

Amandeep, who was tied-34th after the second day, is now 1-under 215 for three rounds.

The only other Indian to make the cut, Vani Kapoor is 3-over 219 after carding a 1-over 74. She is currently T-50th.

Vani started on the back nine and suffered a double bogey on the 18th.

Overall, she had three birdies on 12th, 16th and second and her three other bogeys came on 11th, 14th and nine for a 1-over 74.

Four other Indians, Diksha Dagar, Tvesa Malik, Neha Tripathi and Ridhima Dilawari missed the cut.

Spanish star Carlota Ciganda posted a four-under-par 68 to lead on 16-under after three rounds.

Looking for a victory, the 2019 tournament champion holds a four-stroke lead over the Swedish pair Maja Stark and Sofie Bringner heading into the final round at Club de Golf Terramar in Sitges.

The 34-year-old Ciganda started strongly with a birdie on the first hole and carded a further three consecutive birdies from the sixth hole for a flawless outward nine of four-under-par 33. She came home in level par 35 with nine steady pars.

The 24-year-old Bringner shot the tournament low round of eight-under-par 64 on day three while Stark, the LET Race to Costa del Sol leader, carded 67.

The 22-year-old Stark, who has won twice on the LET already this season, went out in level par 37 but turned up the heat with three birdies and an eagle in her last seven holes to come back in 30.

Magdalena Simmermacher from Argentina, who carded a 68, sits in fourth place, followed by Laura Beveridge of Scotland in fifth on 10-under-par.

Sweden’s Jessica Karlsson and Spain’s Nuria Iturrioz are tied for sixth on eight-under-par, with a further five players tied for eighth place on seven-under-par. 

Also Read : Amandeep Drall, Vani Kapoor only Indians to make cut in Ladies European event

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Sitges, Jul 9 (Golf News) Amandeep Drall and Vani Kapoor were the only two out of six Indian golfers to make the cut at the Estrella Damm Ladies Open currently here.

Deaflympics gold medallist Diksha Dagar (74-74), Neha Tripathi (73-76), Tvesa Malik (77-73), and Ridhima Dilawari (78-76) -- all had a rough time and missed the cut.

Drall, who was hit by a double bogey in her first round 72, was steady with two birdies against two bogeys for another 72, that put her at even par 144 and Tied-34th.

Vani, who started from the back nine, also had two birdies and two bogeys in her 72 that followed her first round 73. At one-over for two rounds, she is currently T-44.

Spain's Carlota Ciganta, who is looking for her sixth LET title, held a commanding five-shot lead at the midway point.

The 32-year-old Spaniard rolled-in five birdies in a bogey-free second round of 67 to reach 12-under, ahead of Scotland’s Michele Thomson, Sweden’s Maja Stark and Magdalena Simmermacher of Argentina.

However, the defending champion, Stark, who played with Ciganda for the first two rounds, matched her 67 to move closer to the former in the points table.

Simmermacher shot 68 and Thomson added an impressive three-under-par 69 to her opening 68.

Sweden’s Elin Arvidsson sits in fifth place, while Spain’s Nuria Iturrioz shot the round of the day - a six-under-par 66 - to move into a share of sixth position with Anne-Lise Caudal from France. 

Also Read : Sharma in top 30, Lahiri hit by wind at Scottish Open

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North Berwick (Scotland), Jul 8 (Golf News) A closing bogey pulled India's Shubhankar Sharma down from a promising two-under to one-under in the first round of the Genesis Scottish Open here.

Yet, by the time the day ended after a windy second session, Sharma found himself in top 30. He was tied 29th.

Treated to a ringside view of a stunning nine-under 61 from American Cameron Tringale, the Indian did mention that his own 69 may not be all that bad considering the conditions expected later in the day at the Renaissance Golf Club.

In the afternoon, Anirban Lahiri, searching for the form and rhythm that took him to a runner-up finish at the Players Championships, and get into next week's Open, started from the 10th and had three birdies in a row from 12th to 14th.

He had a superb three-under after five holes. However, Lahiri bogeyed the Par-5 16th and dropped a double on the difficult Par-4 18th and suffered even more with a double on the first.

A birdie on fourth was a balm of sorts, but that gain was taken away at the tough ninth in blowing wind. He ended two-over and left hoping for a better second round to stay on in the tournament.

Earlier, South Africa's Justin Harding, who was added to the field following a stay on the ban on some of the European Tour players who played on the Liv Series Golf events, got off to a superb bogey free 65.

He was third, as Gary Woodland, a former US Open champion, opened with 6-under 64 to be second. Tringale had a 3-shot lead after 18 holes.

Lahiri said, "The conditions were not easy, but with those two doubles, I lost at least three shots. That was disappointing. Then on the second nine, the front side of the (Renaissance) course, the wind was blowing and it did not help as I backed off also once and finally ended with a bogey." "The couple of three-putts also added to the things," added Lahiri, who was returning to Links golf for the first time in three years." Lahiri opened with two pars, birdied three in a row from 12th to 14th and then dropped a shot on 16th, double bogeyed 18th and dropped a final bogey on ninth. His other birdie was on fourth.

Sharma had birdies on first, third, fifth and 11th and dropped shots on fourth, sixth and 18th.

"I played well, though the score was not as such. I started well but a couple of three-putts. I was still 2-under when I came to 18th and hit a great tee shot. But a disappointing shot from the rough ahead of the green led to a bogey on the tough 18th." "I think I am coming back fine after some hiccups. I had a slight back problem, then changed some clubs and then after a good finish at Dutch Open, I had covid. So the focus is also on getting my health better as I play along," said Sharma. 

Also Read : Shubhankar Sharma, Lahiri fail to build on good starts at Scottish Open

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North Berwick (Scotland), Jul 7 (Golf News) India's Shubhankar Sharma promised a good start at the Genesis Scottish Open with three birdies in first five holes against just one bogey here on Thursday.

Thereafter a couple of three putts and additional bogeys on sixth and 18th meant only a modest 1-under 71 on a course where his playing partner American Cameron Tringale shot a stunning 9-under 61 to open a three-shot lead.

The third player in the group, Mito Pereira, shot 4-under 66 at the Par-70 Renaissance Golf Club.

Anirban Lahiri, looking for a solid result to get a place in next week's Open, started from the 10th and had three birdies in a row from 12th to 14th to get to a superb 3-under after five holes.

However, he bogeyed the Par-5 16th and dropped a double on the difficult Par-4 18th to go from 3-under after five holes to even par after nine. Half the field was yet to finish.

Earlier, South Africa's Justin Harding, who was added to the field following a stay on the ban on some of the European Tour players who played on the Liv Series Golf events, got off to a superb bogey free 65 at the Renaissance Club.

Sharma had birdies on first, third, fifth and 11th and dropped shots on fourth, sixth and 18th.

"I played well, though the score was not as such. I started well but a couple of three-putts. I was still 2-under when I came to 18th and hit a great tee shot. But a disappointing shot from the rough ahead of the green led to a bogey on the tough 18th." "I think I am coming back fine after some hiccups. I had a slight back problem, then changed some clubs and then after a good finish at Dutch Open, I had COVID. So the focus is also on getting my health better as I play along," added Sharma.

Tringale, who has also played a sprinkling of events on the Asian Tour, plies his trade in the US and is ranked 55th in the world. Three birdies in a span of four holes from the fifth to the eighth, were followed by a run of six birdies in a row from 10th to 15th as he shot a flawless 61.

Harding led the field till he was overtaken by Tringale. But Harding's entry into the field itself was a story.

As per the DP World Tour, their members who played in the first LIV Golf event last month without permission had been banned from the USD 8 million Scottish Open and two other events co-sanctioned with the PGA Tour. They were also fined of 100,000 pounds.

A hearing before the Sports Resolutions (UK) on Monday stayed the ban on four players -- Harding, Ian Poulter, Adrian Otaegui and Branden Grace -- who won the second LIV event.

Harding has claimed he has not signed up with LIV but got into those events on Order of Merit or World ranking and he earned USD 1.1 million by finishing 10th and eighth in the two events.

Tringale needed to play his last three holes in 2-under to shoot only the second 59 in DP World Tour history, but he parred the last three holes, including missing a birdie from 12 feet on 16th.

He said, "I've had some flashes of brilliance in the last couple months but this was a special day for sure. It would mean a whole lot (to win).

"I haven't had a professional win on my own, and obviously Scotland is where golf started, so this place is special. Everyone here has appreciation for the game." 

Also Read : Diksha Dagar to lead Indian contingent in Estrella Damm Ladies Open

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Sitges (Spain), Jul 6 (Golf News) Deaflympics gold medallist golfer Diksha Dagar will be leading a six-member Indian contingent in the Estrella Damn Ladies Open, to be held here from this week.

Diksha, who has been performing consistently for over a month, including in the Amundi German Masters, will set her sights at a top-10 finish while also hoping to win the Ladies European Tour for the second time in her career.

In 2019, Diksha became only the second Indian female golfer after Aditi Ashok to win the Ladies European Tour.

The 21-year-old golfer won the gold at the Deaflympics in Brazil this year.

Joining her in the contingent will be Tvesa Malik, who was India's best golfer on the LET Order of Merit last year.

The 26-year-old is currently struggling to find the kind of form that earned her a bunch of top-10s, including a runner-up finish last year.

The other Indians who are part of the six-woman contingent are Amandeep Drall, Vani Kapoor, Ridhima Dilawari and Neha Tripathi.

While Diksha has had only moderate success this season with five cuts in nine starts and a best of tied 16th finish, Tvesa, on the other hand, has made six cuts in 12 events, while Drall has made five cuts in 11 starts.

The Indians will be facing a strong home challenge with Carlota Ciganda leading it.

Ciganda won the tournament in 2019 and was also part of the play-off for the title two years earlier in 2017. Ciganda is also the reigning Ladies European Tour winner.

Besides Ciganda, the tournament will feature some of the best names, including the likes of Ana Peláez, Nuria Iturrioz, María Hernández, and Carmen Alonso.

The 26-year-old Iturrioz will arrive in Sitges after achieving her career-best seventh position this year at the Ladies Italian Open. 

Also Read : Disastrous round sees Shubhankar Sharma miss cut at Irish Open

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Kilkenny (Ireland), Jul 2 (Golf News) India's Shubhankar Sharma seemed all set for a fine second round after a solid first day as he had a birdie-birdie start from the 10th in the second round of Horizon Irish Open at Mount Juliet Estate.

Then everything went downhill with two double bogeys and two other bogeys between the 13th and 18th. He double bogeyed 13th and 16th and bogeyed 14th and 18th and there ended his hopes.

On his second nine, the front stretch of the course, Sharma had one birdie and no more bogeys, but it was too late as he finished 3-over for the day and even for 36 holes, which was good enough only for tied 89th and he exited early.

It was Sharma's third straight missed cut and sixth one in seven starts with a tied 14th in between at Dutch Open.

Jorge Campillo moved into the halfway lead after the Spaniard carded a four under second round 68, even as 2019 Open winner, Shane Lowry delighted the local fans with birdies on last four holes to just make the cut after himself having resigned to an early exit.

It was a great day for locals as another home favourite Séamus Power, playing with Lowry, put on a thrilling late show for the jubilant fans.

On a day when the weather changed frequently the County Kilkenny saw both heavy rain and cold weather in the afternoon. Earlier, Campillo set the clubhouse target at 11-under in more favourable morning conditions.

Meanwhile, Power and Lowry, playing together in front of huge crowds, had contrasting paths in the tricky conditions. World Number 36 Power had a birdie run of five in seven holes at the midway point to move into contention, while former Open Champion Lowry struggled to get going and was in danger of missing the cut.

Lowry's stunning finish, however, delighted the locals as he birdied all of the last four holes – finishing in style by holing a 20-footer at the last amid wild celebrations. That saw him make the cut by a shot.

Power, 35, also picked up a birdie at the challenging final hole to move to eight under par. Power, 35, will enter the weekend just three shots off the pace.

Recent US Senior Open winner Pádraig Harrington will also entertain the spectators after he finished with back-to-back birdies to join Lowry on a three under par total.

Lowry later said, "It was pretty cool. To be honest, I had kind of resigned myself to the fact I was going home, packing my bags. Don't know if I've ever birdied the last four to make a cut so that's a first. I'm just happy to be in the weekend." 

Also Read : Anirban Lahiri shoots 69 to lie 32nd at John Deere Classic

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Silvis (US), Jul 1 (Golf News) India's Anirban Lahiri started off his quest for a berth into the 150th Open Championship with a 2-under 69 that could have been two-three shots better on the opening day of the John Deere Classic.

Lahiri was lying T-32 as three players not otherwise exempt who finish in the top 10 (and ties) this week earn spots into The Open Championship.

The 35-year-old, who is trying to get a spot into the last Major of the year at St, Andrews later this month, had a birdie-run of four in a row from fourth to seventh.

Lahiri had five birdies against three bogeys. But what hurt him most was missing out two small putts, one inside four feet and another inside five feet and one more of about eighth feet.

In contrast, his four birdie run included conversions from 20 feet and three from between 12 and 13 feet.

Meanwhile, coming off a T2 at last week’s Travelers Championship, J.T. Poston opened his campaign with a 62 for the second straight week. He was two shots clear of Canada’s Michael Gligic, who opened with a bogey-free 7-under 64.

Lahiri and C T Pan were the top Asians at T-32 with 69 each while Cam Davis was the best Asia-Pacific scorer with 68 at T-19.

Poston eagled the par-5 second and had seven birdies in a bogey-free round.

Gligic was second at 64, playing in the final group of the day off the first tee. Vaughn Taylor and Christopher Gotterup followed at 65. Ricky Barnes, Denny McCarthy, Chris Naegel and Dylan Frittelli shot 66.

Defending champion Lucas Glover shot 74 and Jason Day withdrew before round one with a back injury. 

Also Read : Aditi sign off Tied 40th, Korea's In Gee Chun wins Women's PGA Championship

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Bethesda, Jun 27 (Golf News) Indian golfer Aditi Ashok had another action-packed round with four birdies against six bogeys for a two-over 74 that saw her finish Tied 40th at the Women's PGA Championship here.

Aditi, who had two birdies and two bogeys on front nine, ran into a stretch of three bogeys in four holes between 11th and 14th which pulled her down.

She finished 76-71-72-74 at a tough Congressional course for a total of five-over 293.

In Gee Chun rallied after losing the rest of her once-sizeable lead, overcoming a bogey-filled front nine to win the Women's PGA Championship on Sunday as Lexi Thompson faltered with her putter.

Chun shot a three-over 75 for the second consecutive day at Congressional, but that was enough to win her third major title by a stroke over Thompson and Minjee Lee. 

Also Read : Neha Tripathi finishes T-36 in Prague; Diksha, Vani T-43

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(Football news) Wales forward Gareth Bale confirmed his move to Los Angeles FC (LAFC) in the MLS following his departure from the La Liga champions Real Madrid. The 32-year-old signed for the Spanish giants from Tottenham Hotspur in 2013 for a then-record transfer fee of €105 million and is now set to join as a free agent with his contract expiring on 1st July.

Bale enjoyed a trophy-laden time with Real as he won three La Liga titles, five Champions League crowns, three Club World Cups and the Spanish Cup, although later on in his Real career he was marred with injuries. The Welshman will likely be remembered for many moments such as scoring twice, including a stunning overhead kick, in the 2018 Champions League final against Liverpool and also netting a superb goal which turned out be the winning goal against Barcelona in the 2014 Copa del Rey final. The Spanish media often labelled him as a “parasite” after he missed Real’s 4-0 home loss to Barcelona in March but he subsequently appeared for Wales and he was jeered and booed by fans during a La Liga game in April.

Bale is one of the most dynamic attacking players of this generation when healthy. He went on to score 106 goals in 258 appearances for Real but he made only seven appearances for the 14 time European champions this past season after struggling with several injuries. Bale also went on a season-long loan to Tottenham last season where he showed a glimpse of his talent, scoring 16 goals in 34 appearances.

Bale is still showing his class as he has led Wales to their first World Cup finals since 1958 when they beat Ukraine 1-0 in their playoff in Cardiff earlier this month. He will now join Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini who signed for LAFC this month after his departure from Juventus. The transfer window in the US opens on July 7, with the reports claiming that Bale and Chiellini could make their debuts against local rivals LA Galaxy. LAFC have by far the best squad in the league as they look to win their first MLS Cup this year. They are already top of the West Conference Standings, riding on the brilliance of their talisman Carlos Vela. Bale would be hoping he stays fit and gets some much needed game time before the World Cup begins in late November.

Also read: West Ham make an offer to free agent Jesse Lingard

Prague, Jun 26 (Golf News) Neha Tripathi finished Tied-36th at the Tipsport Czech Ladies Open here on Sunday.

Neha, who has been working hard to get on to the bandwagon on the Ladies European Tour, endured a grinding day with four birdies, two of them in the last three holes, against three bogeys for 73 and a total of 3-under for 54 holes.

The other two Indians, Diksha Dagar (71) and Vani Kapoor were Tied-43rd. Amandeep Drall and Ridhima Dilawari missed the cut.

Czech amateur Jana Melichova (69) and pro Klara Spilkova (70) finished 1-2 in a fine result for the host country. Melichova, who zoomed up the leaderboard with a second round 65, started the final round one shot behind the overnight leader, Nicole Broch of Denmark.

Melchova played the front nine in 4-under and a birdie on 10th took her to 16-under and way ahead of the field. Broch and Spilkova were now three behind, but tension got Melchova, and she gave away three bogeys in a row from 12th to 14th but a late birdie on Par-3 17th gave her some cushion.

Spilkova fought back with closing birdies on 17 and 18 but fell one short. Broch birdied 16 and 18 and was also one shy of Melchova.

Next week at the German Masters Diksha, Vani, Amandeep Drall and Ridhima Dilawari will join amateur Avani Prashanth, who has an invite for the event, and Tvesa Malik, who will be back after a week’s break.

Neha Tripathi is a reserve and if she makes it to the main draw, that will make it a massive seven Indians in the field.

Also Read : Diksha assured of cut at Czech Ladies Open, 4 Indians yet to finish

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Prague, Jun 25 (Golf News) India's Diksha Dagar overcame a double bogey on the back nine to make the cut at the Tipsport Czech Ladies Open golf tournament here.

The left-handed Olympian, who also won the Deaf Olympic gold medal recently, shot two-over 74 on top of her fine first round of three-under 69 to be at one-under for 36 holes.

She was lying T-36 though almost half the field was yet to complete the second round.

The cut was likely at even par.

Two of the four Indian golfers had just begun their second round.

Neha Tripathi, who was one-under in the first round, began with a par, while Vani Kapoor, who shot even par on the first day began with a birdie on the second.

Ridhima Dilawari, even par in the first round, also began with a par. Amandeep Drall, who was one-over on the first day had also begun with a par.

Diksha had a bogey on fourth, a double on 11th and a birdie on 16th in her card of 74.

Danish star Nicole Broch (65-67) stayed in the lead and was joined by amateur Emma Spitz (66-66) and they were both 12-under.

Local Czech amateur Jana Melichova (68-65) and Czech pro Klara Spilkova (68-65) were tied for third at 11-under. Spain's Luna Sobron Galmes (68-69) was fifth at seven-under.

Half the field was yet to finish their second round. 

Also Read : All four Indians miss cut in Korea, Sanghee in lead

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Cheonan, Jun 24 (Golf News) All the four Indian golfers in the field this week at Asian Tour's Kolon Korea Open made early exit after missing the cut at Woo Jeong Hills Country Club here on Friday.

While Rahil Gangjee came the closest before missing out by one shot after rounds of 72 and 75, Gaganjeet Bhullar (73-75) and Veer Ahlawat (78-76) also failed to progress beyond the second round.

Honey Baisoya, on the other hand, withdrew after scoring 80 in the first round.

Korea's Sanghee Lee added a second-round three-under-par 68 to his opening 69 to take the halfway lead. The Korean is 5-under for the prestigious event, one ahead of his countrymen Taehee Lee (66) and Taehoon Ok (69) and American Jarin Todd (69).

Sanghee Lee has won four times in Korea but admitted that his national Open is the one that he really wants to win the most.

Koreans Junghwan Lee (71), Kyongjun Moon (70), Doyeon Hwang (68), and Hyungjoon Lee (68) are three-under in a tie for fifth.

Korean Bio Kim, lying second in the Order of Merit, was able to improve on his opening 72 with a 69. He is one-under for the tournament and in contention despite an unfortunate bogey on his last hole. 

Also Read : Lahiri reels off 18 pars at Travelers, McIlroy shoots 62 to lead

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Cromwell, Jun 24 (Golf News) Anirban Lahiri reeled off 18 pars for the second time on the PGA Tour as he carded even par 70 to lie tied 69 after the first round of the Travelers Championship here.

The Indian golfer will now have little room for mistake as he needs to bring in a good second round to ensure he is around for the weekend.

The day once again belonged to the in-form Rory McIlroy, who despite a sinus bug shot a bogey-free eight-under 62 and shared the lead with J.T.Poston.

They were one ahead of Xander Schauffele and Martin Laird. This season McIlroy has seven top-10s, including five in his last six starts.

The best among Asians came from Satoshi Kodaira of Japan, who came in as a replacement following the late withdrawal of Justin Thomas.

He shot 3-under 67 and was placed T-15, with Kiradech Aphibarnrat and K H Lee with 68 at T-30.

It was the second time Lahiri had 18 pars in a round. The first time was at the Masters in 2015 in the final round.

Lahiri hit 13 of the 18 greens in regulation. He did miss a couple of putts inside 9-10 feet for birdies and one of his fine saves was on Par-3 eighth, when he had a fantastic chip-in.

His second shot went six yards to the left rough from where he had a third shot chip-in to save par and he delivered.

McIlroy, coming off a fifth-place in the US Open and a win at the Canadian Open the week before that, had eight birdies, including one from 47 feet on the par-4 seventh. The score matched the lowest opening round of his PGA TOUR career.

Poston had five straight birdies from 13th to 17th as he turned in six-under 29 and raised visions of Jim Furyk's record 58 on the same TPC River Highlands course in 2016.

Poston parred the first six holes on front nine and birdied seventh and ninth for a bogey free 62.

Schauffele hit all 18 greens in regulation for the first time in his career. Patrick Cantlay, Charles Howell III and Webb Simpson, who played alongside McIlroy, were two shots back at 64.

Harris English, who won last year on the eighth hole of a playoff, opened with a 66. Top-ranked Masters champion Scottie Scheffler had a 68. 

Also Read : Tvesa ends up 56th as Bronte holes 55-foot eagle for Aramco Series win in London

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London, Jun 19 (Golf News) Tvesa Malik rounded off a week to forget with a second straight 5-over 78, and finished tied 56th in the individual section of the Aramco Team Series London on Sunday.

After the relief of having sneaked into the final round on the cutline, Tvesa was hoping to turn things around a little in the final round to get a respectable finish.

Despite conditions looking very difficult, Tvesa got off to a birdie start but dropped a shot soon after on third. She made up with a birdie on the fourth.

On a day when pars seemed good, Tvesa rolled in four and with others dropping shots, she moved close enough to sniff a place in the 30s. It was not to be.

Tvesa had a disastrous and crippling triple bogey on the ninth. She turned in 2-over 39 and the back nine offered little relief with bogeys on 10, 11, 14 and 16. A consolation on 18th, which yielded her a birdie for the third day running, was little compensation. She carded 78 for a 11-under total.

Diksha Dagar had earlier missed the cut.

Tvesa, who has decided to take the next week off, said, 'I just want to take a week off and get my game together. A lot of the season is still left.

"I am happy I showed a fight (especially on the back nine of the second day) but am disappointed that I left too much out there otherwise. I need to work to get my act together for the remainder of the season." Bronte Law, who earlier in the week called for more women's events alongside the men, holed a monster putt from around 55 feet. Her back nine was rocky and included a double bogey on par-5 13th. She fell back but then a crucial par on 14th was followed by two great birdies on 15th and 16th, bringing her to 7-under with two holes to go.

By then Linn Grant (69) finished sensationally. She had six birdies in the last seven holes and finished at 7-under only to be overtaken by Georgia Hall.

Playing one group ahead of Bronte Law, Georgia, started the day at 6-under, and was 1-under through the front nine. Then from the 10th to 17th she without a either a birdie or bogey.

A closing birdie took Georgia to 8-under and past last week's winner Grant. Georgia then waited for Bronte, who need a birdie to force a play-off or an eagle to win outright.

On the 18th Bronte, then 7-under, just landed on the green with her second shot on the short Par-5 18th. She faced a massive 55-foot putt an eagle. Bronte stared down the putt and rolled it right into the middle of the cup for a stunning win and held her hands aloft as the crowd went ecstatic.

Georgia (71) ended second one shot behind, while Grant, who turns 23 on Monday, was denied a second win in two weeks and ended third. Charley Hull (69) was fourth.

In the play-off for the Team competition, Team Nicole Garcia beat Team Ursula Wikstrom. Diksha's team, which was led by Ana Pelaez, was sixth and Tvesa Malik’s team was tied 26th. 

Also Read : Tvesa rallies with final hole birdie to make cut at Aramco Series London

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London, Jun 18 (Golf News) A fighting Tvesa Malik recovered from a disastrous start to make the cut with a final hole birdie in the second round of the Aramco Team Series – London.

Tvesa seemed set for an early exit as she was six-over through her first seven holes but she refused to give up and eventually birdied the 18th hole for the second day running with a tense eight footer to make the cut on the line.

"We live to fight to another day," she said with a laugh. "I was so angry with myself, but I just did not want to give up. After being 6-over for first seven, three birdies on back nine against two bogeys meant I had a chance to squeeze in." Tvesa missed at least three birdies inside eight feet, the distance she negotiated for her final crucial putt on 18th. With 78 in the second to follow up on her first round 74.

At six-over she was Tied-59th as 62 players made the cut.

The other Indian in the field, Diksha Dagar missed out of weekend action with 78-80.

England's Hayley Davis forged ahead with a two-shot lead heading into the final round after carding a round of 68 (-5) to be nine-under-par. She had an opening 69 (-4). In the second round, Davis rolled in seven birdies and two bogeys to be two shots ahead of compatriot Bronte Law (68-71).

"Nothing worked for me for most part of the day," said Tvesa, who has been playing well in patches this season, but not been able to put together a good tournament.

"But I decided I would give it a shot. Things changed slightly after the first seven holes. The two pars gave me some breathing space. I was not driving well, not putting well.

"On the back nine I birdied 10th and 13th but in dropped shots on 11 and 12. It was frustrating. The wind was up and things not working. I had four pars, which should have had at least one birdie and on the 18th, where I had a birdie first day, I got to the fringe in two and even though it was not a great chip I had eight feet for birdie and it dropped." Then it was a long wait till almost the end of the round that she found herself with a place to play the final round, which has Top-60 and ties.

Behind leader Hayley Davis was second placed Bronte Law, who after second round of 71 (-2) moved to 7-under with her first round 68.

Sweden's Caroline Hedwall and England's Georgia Hall shared the third place on six-under-par with Spain's Hernandez, Garcia and Dutch golfer Pasqualle Coffa one shot further back in Tied-fifth.

In the two-day team competition, Team Pelaez, of which Diksha was a part, finished Tied-sixth, while Team Tvesa Malik was tied 27th.

There was a tie for the team event as Team Wikstrom comprising Ursula Wikstrom, Julia Engström, Maria Hernandez and amateur Laurent Dhaeyer set the early pace, adding 14-under to their first day 13-under to get to 27-under.

Team Garcia with Nicole Garcia, Kelly Whaley, Madelene Stavnar and amateur Mia Baker also had similar scores.

With both teams level on 27-under-par, they will playoff for victory at the conclusion of the third round Team Hillier, with Whitney Hillier, Krista Bakker, Lisa Pettersson and amateur James Carson Heard, finished in third place on 26-under-par having produced a round of 14-under on Friday. 

Also Read : India's Udayan Mane finishes Tied 42nd in Jakarta

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Jakarta, Jun 18 (Golf News) India's Udayan Mane posted a final round of two-under 70 to sign off at T-42 in the Indo Masters Golf Invitational at Imperial Klub Golf here on Saturday.

Mane had four birdies against two bogeys in a week that was patchy at times with rounds of 73-71-78-70.

It was the second event of the eight-event series in Indonesia on the Asian Development Tour.

Australia's Harrison Gilbert held on to win the Indo Masters Golf Invitational with a final round of 66 at 18-under-par despite a late charge by Thailand's Chanat Sakulpolphaisan (65).

The 23-year-old Australian Gilbert, who made his pro debut this year, started the day in the final group alongside Thai duo Sakulpolphaisan and Chonlatit Chuenboonngam.

He opened the scoring with a bogey but soon recovered his composure in the USD 70,000 Asian Development Tour event, posting three birdies and an eagle on the front nine. He picked up two more strokes on the way in to close with a six-under-par 66 and a final score of 270.

The young Australian, who hails from the fabled Royal Melbourne course, is excited to get his professional career underway.

"Really the last three days is probably the best golf I’ve ever played," he said.

Sakulpolphaisan maintained pressure all the way down the back stretch, carding six birdies in the last eight holes but in the end came up a single stroke short on 271.

Chonaltit Chuenboonngam, who on the front nine had four birdies, was unable to score after the turn and a final hole bogey dropped him down to a solo third with a score of 272.

Singapore's Jesse Yap (68) was fourth at 274. 

Also Read : Diksha Dagar helps team to 3rd place at ATS London

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London, Jun 16 (Golf News) Indian golfer Diksha Dagar holed some crucial putts to help her team to a solid third place in the first round of the Team competition at the Aramco Team Series London.

Despite her efforts for the team, Diksha, had a disappointing personal card of seven-over 80.

Dagar, who was part of the winning team last year, had three birdies, all of which were helpful for her team.

Tvesa Malik had played just eight holes and was one-over and her team was way down at 32nd place.

Dagar, partnering Spaniard Ana Pelaez, the team captain, Northern Ireland's Olivia Mehaffey and amateur Ivan Forster, brought in a score of 14-under. They were two behind joint leaders, Team Anne Van Damm and Team Linn Grant, who are 16-under.

Each team comprises three professionals and one amateur and the two best scores at each hole count towards the team competition, which will be decided at the end of the second round. The individual honours will be claimed after the third and final round.

In the individual section, Sweden's Sofie Bringer was on top with a personal seven-under 66 that included three eagles. Georgia Hall (67) and Bronte Law (66) followed her on the Par-73 Centurion Golf Club course.

Dagar's birdies were instrumental in adding to the team's gain and they came on Par-5 sixth, where she was the best with a birdie -- the birdie on Par-5 ninth and the birdie on Par-4 16th -- where she was once again the best scorer for her team.

Also, Dagar's par on Par-3 11th made up for Pelaez's bogey and Mehaffey's double.

Overall, Dagar had three birdies, six bogeys and two doubles and was way down in the leaderboard. She will need a strong second round to make the cut for individual prizes.

Dagar was T-97 and only the Top-60 and ties move into the final round.

Dagar's teammates Pelaez had a three-under 70 and Mehaffey shot six-over 79.

England's Georgia Hall, a Major winner, was second at six-under 67. Bronte Law, who had a great outing at the US Women's Open was third at five-under 67. 

Also Read : Hero WPGT 8th leg: Pranavi rallies to get back into contention

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Bengaluru, Jun 16 (Golf News) Pranavi Urs roared back into contention in the eighth leg of the Hero Women's Pro Golf Tour with a 3-under 69 to get into a share of the lead with Ridhima Dilawari here on Thursday.

The leading duo is now 1-under 143 for 36 holes and three shots ahead of third placed Afshan Fatima (73-73).

Seher Atwal (76-71), Jahanvi Bakshi (73-74) and Trimann Saluja (72-75) were tied for fourth place, while Siddhi Kapoor (76-72) and Gaurika Bishnoi (75-73) were tied for seventh.

Neha Tripathi (79-70) improved on her first round score by nine shots and had the day’s second best card of 2-under 70. She was ninth, while amateur Smriti Bhargava (77) rounded off the top 10.

The cut fell at 159 and 26 players made the final round.

Pranavi, who has sometimes begun slow, moved back into action after the disappointing first round of 74.

With birdies on fifth and ninth, she turned in 2-under and birdied the 10th too. At that stage she was 3-under for the day and the run suggested she could further better her scores.

Bogeys on Par-5 11th and Par-3 15th, however, saw her drop down before she closed with a birdie on 18th to ensure she shared the top spot.

Overnight leader Ridhima (69-74) seemed set for sole lead before a late disaster pulled her back. She had three birdies, two of them on the Par-3s, but she also dropped a double bogey on the Par-4 seventh.

Even at that stage she was set for a handy lead as she was 1-under for the day, after a 3-under 69 on the first day. The big blow, however, was the triple bogey she suffered on the Par-5 14th and thereafter she made it to the finish with four pars, for a disappointing 74.

A battle royale is set as Pranavi goes for her fourth win of the season and Ridhima aims to end a long title drought since her win in January 2021, while Afshan will be looking for any openings if either of the leaders falter at the start. 

Also Read : Diksha hopes to re-kindle winning memories, Tvesa eyes reversal of form in London

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London, Jun 16 (Golf News) India's Diksha Dagar will look to rekindle the great memories of her team triumph, while compatriot Tvesa Malik will eye a reversal of form when they tee off at the Aramco Team Series, which combines a team event with individual competition.

Last year, Dagar was in the winning team and finished T-12 in individuals.

This week Dagar plays in the team with Ana Pelaez and Olivia Mehaffey, while Tvesa, a captain once again, will go out with her teammates Sophie Witt and Elia Folch.

"Hopefully, things will begin to fall in place soon. But there is still a lot of events left on the schedule. The addition of ATS (Aramco Team Series) events mean a lot to play for us," Tvesa said.

"A good couple of results is what is the need right now. I have been training with (coach) Jesse Grewal Sir back home and last week Shubhankar (Sharma) who was there at the Scandinavian Mixed, also helped a little. Let's see how it goes. The Centurion is a challenging course, but I have played here." Tvesa had lead her team to a tied-9th place finish last year. She had finished T-45 in the individual section.

On her season so far, Tvesa said, "I am not able to put a finger as to what is not working this year. If something works one week, something else is out of sync.

"I have not been able to play consistently though the game seems in decent shape. Basically, I have not been able to put a solid week together like I did many times last year." Tvesa came close to winning her maiden title at the Gant Championship last year as she finished runner-up, her best on the LET. In 2021, she had five Top-10s and another five in Top-20. This year she is still searching for her first Top-10.

On the team format, she said, "That's a lot of fun. I enjoy it and picked Sophie Witt. Then we got Ella (Folch) as the random third member. One more amateur will be assigned to the team. We play the team event, but individually we need to focus on our game. If that works, all else will fall in place." Diksha, who last week played her first event this season in Europe before South Africa and Asia, missed the cut at Scandinavian Mixed. Winner of the South African Women's Open in 2019, Diksha, has had a great boost this season winning the gold medal at the Deaflympics.

With her father, Col Narender Dagar, as her caddie, she sounded confident of her game and is looking forward to making a mark after being a crucial third member of the team event last year alongside Germans Olivia Cowan and Sarah Schmitt.

The ATS Series this year has a new format. The teams will compete over only 36 holes – the Thursday and Friday – with USD 500,000 prize money being split between the lowest scoring four-balls.

The event is the second of five USD 1 million Aramco Team Series tournaments on the LET calendar for 2022.

The final day of play will see only the lowest scoring 60 players and ties from the opening two days return to the course to battle it out for a share of another USD 500,000, this time in individual earnings. 

Also Read : Udayan Mane lies T-20 midway through Round 1 in Jakarta

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Jakarta, Jun 15 (Golf News) Udayan Mane, the lone Indian in the field of the Asian Development Tour’s Indo Masters Invitational, was lying T-20th midway through the first round, which was suspended due to lightning and heavy rain.

Malaysia’s Shahriffuddin Ariffin took an early lead posting a five-under-par 67. He led four players by two shots.

Mane, who had a Top-10 finish on ADT last week, had one birdie and one bogey in his nine holes.

Ariffin, who had the advantage of an early tee time, posted a consistent score with three birdies on each nine, with only a single bogey on his sixth hole of the day, the par 3 16th. He was happy with his performance at the USD 70,000 Asian Development Tour event, the second in a series of six in Indonesia.

Four players including China’s Chen Guxin, Pisitchai Thippong of Thailand, Lloyd Jefferson Go of the Philippines and Singapore’s Jesse Yap were Tied-2nd, but Go and Yap still had three holes to play in the first round.

Last week’s winner Naraajie E. Ramadhanputra of Indonesia started well from the 10th tee but two bogeys before the turn slowed his advance. He shot 71 and was T-9th. 

Also Read : Flawless Ridhima takes 3-shot lead in 8th leg of Hero WPGT

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Bengaluru, Jun 15 (Golf News) Ridhima Dilawari fired a flawless 3-under 69 to grab a three shot lead at the end of the opening round of the eighth leg of the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour here on Wednesday.

Ridhima, who has not tasted a win since January 2021, had three birdies in a row from 11th to 13th and they came on a Par-5, Par-4 and a Par-3 as she carded 69.

Three little known youngsters, Agrima Manral (17), Disha Kavery (18) and Trimann Saluja (20) are tied for second with similar cards of even par 72 each.

Jahanvi Bakshi and Afshan Fatima were tied fifth with 73 each, while Lakhmehar Pardesi, Pranavi Urs and amateurs Jia Katariya and Smriti Bhargav were tied seventh with rounds of 74 each.

Ridhima was focused and will look forward to playing steady, as she has had some good starts but thereafter given away the advantage.

Trimann Saluja was impressive with six birdies, but she also gave away an equal number of bogeys, making it a unique card of six birdies, six pars and six bogeys.

Agrima had four birdies and four pars, while Disha was hit by a double bogey in a round that otherwise had four birdies and two bogeys.

Pranavi was not in her flowing form, but she often makes up in the last two rounds. She had two birdies against four bogeys.

Last week’s runner-up Asmitha Sathish had a rough outing with a round of 76, with two bogeys, a double and no birdies to be Tied-15th. 

Also Read : Tvesa Malik, Diksha and Sharma miss cut at Scandinavian

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Gothenburg (Sweden), Jun 11 (Golf News) All three Indians taking part in the Volvo Car Scandinavian Mixed golf missed the 36-hole cut with disappointing performances here.

The two women, Diksha Dagar and Tvesa Malik and the lone male player, Shubhankar Sharma, were all way off the cut line.

After a first round 76, Sharma shot 71 in the second but was still T-115, while Diksha had a second straight 74. Tvesa Malik, who is not being able to find the form that gave her such good results last year, shot 76-78.

The cut fell at -2 with 69 players making it through to the final two rounds at the Volvo Car Scandinavian Mixed.

Australia's Jason Scrivener had a blistering second day firing a 64 (-8) to lead by two shots. After carding a 68 on day one at Halmstad Golf Club, the 33-year-old went bogey-free and rolled in eight birdies to reach 12-under-par at the halfway point of the competition.

The Volvo Car Scandinavian Mixed is a co-sanctioned event between the LET and DP World Tour and it sees 78 men and 78 women playing for the same prize fund of USD 2 million and one trophy.

Italian amateur Carolina Melgrati followed up her opening round of 65 (-7), which equalled the course record, with a second round of 69 to be 10-under-par after 36 holes.

The 19-year-old rolled in two birdies and one bogey on her front nine before making two more birdies on her back nine to continue her impressive form and be in a share of second place.

After finishing T4 at the Ladies Italian Open, Melgrati has a different putter this week, but it is working a treat at Halmstad Golf Club.

Scotland's Craig Howie and England's Daniel Gavins are tied for fifth place on nine-under having recorded rounds of 70 and 67, respectively.

Henrik Stenson carded a 66 (-6) on day two to move onto eight-under-par and into the top 10 as he is in a share of seventh place.

Stenson is joined by fellow Swede Kristoffer Broberg, Thailand's Jazz Janewattananond and Spanish duo Nacho Elvira and Santiago Tarrio. 

Also Read : Rough start for Diksha Dagar, Tvesa and Sharma in Sweden

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Gothenburg, Jun 10 (Golf News) Indian golfers Diksha Dagar, Shubhankar Sharma and Tvesa Malik endured a rough start at the Volvo Car Scandinavian Mixed and run the risk of missing the cut.

Diksha with a 2-over 74 was the best of the three Indians at 114th place, while Sharma and Tvesa carded 4-over 76 each and were T-140th.

All three will need solid second round cards to make the weekend. The top 65 and ties will make the cut.

Diksha had two birdies, two bogeys and a double bogey, while Tvesa had three birdies but also three bogeys and two double bogeys.

Sharma, who has missed four cuts in last five starts, looks likely to miss another one. He had two birdies, four bogeys and a double bogey.

Meanwhile, Italian amateur Carolina Melgrati produced a spectacular opening round of 7-under 65 to be in a four-way share of the lead.

The Volvo Car Scandinavian Mixed is a co-sanctioned event between the LET and DP World Tour with 78 men and women each playing for the same prize fund of USD 2 million and one trophy with Henrik Stenson and Annika Sörenstam as hosts.

Melgrati, 19, who finished T4 at last week’s Ladies Italian Open, landed an eagle on par-5 11th besides six other birdies against just one bogey on eighth.

Melgrati was joined at the top of the leader board by Scotland’s Craig Howie, France’s Matthieu Pavon and Spain’s Santiago Tarrio, who all carded rounds of 65.

Four players were tied for fifth place including England’s Liz Young and Sweden’s Linn Grant after they both fired rounds of 6-under 66.

At the end of the first day, 16 players are Tied-11th on four-under-par including local LET winner Julia Engström, German duo Karolin Lampert and Leonie Harm, France’s Anne-Lise Caudal, England’s Rosie Davies and Italy’s Virginia Elena Carta. 

Also Read : India's Udayan Mane lies third in weather-hit ADT event

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Jakarta, Jun 9 (Golf News) India's Udayan Mane occupies the third spot to stay in contention in the weather-hit OB Golf Invitational after a lengthy rain delay added to a cramped schedule at the Damai Indah Golf's BSD Course here on Thursday.

The USD 70,000 event will finish on Friday.

After a series of stop-start frustrations a day earlier, there was an interruption of nearly four hours on Thursday. The players will be back on Friday for a long closing day.

Mane, who shot seven-under 65 on the first day, added three-under 69 on the second to be 10-under.

In the unfinished third round he was two-under through nine holes with a total of 12-under. He was two shots behind the leaders -- Jonathan Wijono and Naraajie E Ramadhanputra, who were both 14-under.

Mane was 13-under, but bogeyed the ninth.

Mane has been in contention on all three days so far and was going well with three birdies until an unfortunate bogey on the ninth hole pulled him back as darkness fell.

At 12 under and two under for the day, he will also be looking to make a fresh start when play resumes.

Ramadhanputra carded three birdies in his opening nine holes to draw level with Wijono, who only managed to improve his overnight score by one before the hooter sounded to end the day's play. 

Also Read : Pranavi shoots six-under to lead by eight shots in 7th leg of Hero WPGT

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Bengaluru, Jun 9 (Golf News) Pranavi Urs shot a fine six-under in the second round to take a eight-shot lead in the seventh leg of the Hero Women's Professional Golf Tour here on Thursday.

The 18-year-old Mysore golfer, who has two wins this season, went one better than the first round as she added six-under 66 to her first round card of five-under 67.

Her cards of 67-66 with 15 birdies against two bogeys and a double, indicated that she has fully recovered from the muscle tear that forced her to withdraw in the first round of the trials for the Asian Games, which have now been postponed to next year.

A year earlier, she had a wrist injury that forced to her take time off from golf.

Leading Jahanvi Bakshi by five shots after the first round, Pranavi birdied third and ninth on the front nine at the Prestige Golfshire course and turned in two-under, as Jahanvi had two birdies and a bogey.

On the back nine, Pranavi dropped her only shot on the Par-4 12th, but then in the next six holes she found five birdies including four on the trot from 15th to 18th for a superb 66.

With 11-under 133 Pranavi is now eight shots ahead of Jahanvi, who had two more birdies on the back nine for a 69, which was the second best card of the day along with that of amateur Heena Kang (77-69). Jahanvi is three-under 141 with 72-69.

Asmitha Sathish, who shot the first day's second best score of 70, was even par in the second round with two bogeys, both on Par-5s, and two birdies on Par-4 8th and Par-3 17th.

Asmitha was third, nine shots behind Pranavi.

Amateur Vidhatri Urs (71-72) was lying fourth while Siddhi Kapoor (72-72) at fifth.

Kang, Jyotsana Singh (72-74), Ridhima Dilawari (72-74) and Neha Tripathi (72-74) were Tied-sixth at two-over 146. Durga Nittur (76-72) and Trimann Saluja (73-75) were tied 10th. 

Also Read : Pranavi takes handy three-shot lead after Round 1 in 7th leg of Hero WPGT

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Bengaluru, Jun 8 (Golf News) Pranavi Urs, who leads the Hero Order of Merit, opened in style in the seventh leg of Women's Professional Golf Tour with a fine five-under 67 to take a three-shot lead over Asmitha Sathish (70) at the Prestige Golfshire here on Wednesday.

Two amateurs, Vidhatri Urs and Rishika Muralidhar shot one-under 71 each to be tied for the third spot.

Pranavi, who won the first and fourth legs of the Hero WPGT and finished runners-up at the fifth, began the day with a birdie and added more on the third and fifth.

A dropped shot on seventh was the only blemish on the front nine, which she played in four-under 32 as she birdied eighth and ninth.

Pranavi made it four birdies in a row and made gains on the 10th and 11th at which point, she was six-under with seven holes to go.

Then came an unfortunate double bogey but she steadied herself after that with three pars and one more birdie on the Par-5 16th. She closed with two pars for 67.

Asmitha also opened with a birdie on first but had no more on the front nine and had one bogey for an even par 36.

On the back nine, she started with birdies on 10th and 11th but dropped a shot on 13th before picking a final birdie on 16th for her 70.

Amateur Rishika had three birdies against two bogeys on front nine and parred the entire back nine. Vidhatri started with a bogey and then birdied 10th and 12th.

Neha Tripathi, who has not tasted victory on the Hero WPGT for some time, opened with 72 which included four birdies and as many bogeys, two of which came on 17 and 18.

Ridhima had two birdies and two bogeys in her first seven holes and then parred the remaining 11 holes in her card of 72.

Neha and Ridhima were tied for fifth with four others -- Ishvari Prasanna, Jahanvi Bakshi, Siddhi Kapoor and Jyotsana Singh. Trimann Saluja, the only player to land an eagle – on Par-5 third – was tied 11th with Astha Madan.

Some of the other well-known names lying lower included Afshan Fatima (75) at T-14, Seher Atwal (76) at T-17 and Lakmehar Pardesi (77) at T-21. 

Also Read : Udayan Mane takes joint lead in Indonesia (Asian Development Tour’s OB Golf Invitational)

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Jakarta, Jun 8 (Golf News) Udayan Mane, the lone Indian at the Asian Development Tour’s OB Golf Invitational, grabbed a share of the first round lead after a superb finish that saw him birdie the last four holes in a row.

Mane, a former India No. 1 on the domestic tour and an Olympian in Tokyo, shot 7-under 65 and was tied for the lead with Thailand’s Poosit Supupramai.

Mane starting on the tenth birdied 11th and 12th, but gave away a shot on 17th. On his second nine, the front side of the course, he birdied first and fourth and then from fifth ninth.

Supupramai, after teeing off in one of the first groups, posted a bogey-free round with four birdies on the front nine and three on the back.

Abdul Hadi, with two starts on the Asian Tour already this year, had a more mercurial front nine with six birdies and one bogey, but was unable to maintain momentum and slipped back to third place with a six-under 66.

Thailand’s Sarun Srithon was one of the later finishers who completed their round before play was stopped for a second time due to rain. He carded a 66 to join the group in third spot, together with Malaysia’s Shahriffuddin Ariffin.

Inclement weather stopped play temporarily at 2.05pm, with golfers returning to the course at 3.15pm after a short delay. The USD 70,000 event saw the first round being completed early on Wednesday.

Danny Chia of Malaysia started the day in steady fashion. Teeing off on Hole 10, he maintained par through the first nine holes, then began to gather pace for a strong finish, birdieing six of his last nine holes to score a five-under 67. 

Also Read : Madappa finishes tied 6th at USD 2 million International Series in England

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Newcastle (England), Jun 6 (Golf News) Viraj Madappa continued his rich vein of form with a tied sixth finish at the USD 2million International Series England.

The Indian youngster, who has one win on the Asian Tour, had for a good part of the week contended for the title, before a triple bogey on third day pushed him and he carded an even par 71 on Sunday.

His rounds of 68-70-70-71 saw him at 5-under for the week as Zimbabwean Scott Vincent won a title for the second week in a row.

A week after winning the Gate Way to the Open Mizuno Open in Japan to secure a place in the 150th Open, Vincent won the International Series after a battle with Travis Smyth (68), Sadom Kaewkanjana (69) and Justin Harding (69), who finished behind him in that order.

Last year's Asian Tour No. 1 Kim Joohyung (72) was fifth and Madappa alongside Sihwan Kim (67) and Turk Petit (70) was tied sixth.

Madappa was the highest placed Indian while Gaganjeet Bhullar (72) was T-23 and SSP Chawrasia (70) was T-30th.

Shiv Kapur (73), who had a great start in first two rounds, (73) was T-36 and Ajeetesh Sandhu (70) was T-44 and S Chikkarangappa (73) was T-49th. Karandeep Kochhar (77) finished 64th and Jeev Milkha Singh (75) was T-68th.

Madappa, who at one stage in the week even had the lead, had three birdies and three bogeys in his 71.

For the 30-year-old Vincent it was his maiden Asian Tour triumph. “This is the tour I started on, so obviously it’s nice to get the first win out here. It has felt like a long time but my game is trending in a good direction.” The International Series England also saw five golfers earning their spots at next week's USD 25 million LIV Invitational Series at Centurion Club.

Smyth and Viraj Madappa from India both claimed a berth as the two highest-finishers from the Slaley Hall event who were not otherwise exempt.

South African Ian Snyman, Kevin Yuan from Australia and Thailand's Itthipat Buranatanyarat will be joining them, having qualified from the cumulative International Series Order of Merit. 

Also Read : Madappa in Top-10 despite triple bogey, Bhullar moves up

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Newcastle (England), Jun 5 (Golf News) Indian golfer Viraj Madappa's struggles on the front nine of the Slaley Hall Hotel, Spa & Golf Resort continued, but he also continued scoring very well on the back nine of the course.

Madappa, a one-time winner on the Asian Tour, opened with eight straight pars before running into a triple bogey on Par-4 ninth. He steadied himself on the back as he has done all week with four birdies and no bogeys. He finished with 1-under 70 and was placed tied eighth as the top Indian.

This week Madappa is 7-over for the front nine and 12-under for the back nine, indicating his liking and comfort for the back nine.

Travis Smyth (66) took the third-round lead after signing for a superb five-under-par 66.

Shiv Kapur, who is troubled by a bone spur, had a big struggle with six bogeys and a double bogey against three birdies in his 76 as he dropped from tied third to tied 29th.

Gaganjeet Bhullar (69) parred the entire front nine and then birdied 10th, 12th and 16th but dropped a shot on the 18th in his round of 69 and he moved up to tied 16th to give himself a shot at a Top-10 finish.

SSP Chawrasia (74) was tied 44th, S Chikkarangappa (73) was tied 48th, while Ajeetesh Sandhu (72), Karandeep Kochhar (72) and Jeev Milkha Singh (78) were tied 69th.

The Australian, 27, topped the leaderboard on eight under par at Slaley Hall Hotel, Spa & Golf Resort, near Newcastle – in an event that marks the Asian Tour’s debut in the UK.

Smyth leads by a shot from Thailand's Sadom Kaewkanjana, who matched the course record with a 65, Zimbabwe's Scott Vincent, in with a 69, and Korean Joohyung Kim, who carded a 70. South African Justin Harding, joint overnight leader with Kim, carded a 71 and is two off the lead.

Smyth is set to feature in the final group for the first time on the Asian Tour but shrugged off the pressure.

Sadom produced one of the finest rounds of his fledgling career to put himself in position to win his third Asian Tour title; in January he claimed the SMBC Singapore Open. Vincent, fresh from his third victory in Japan last weekend, will also go in search of a first Asian Tour title.

The final round promises to be a thrilling day especially as final places in next week's LIV Golf Invitational Series tournament are up for grabs: the leading two players not otherwise exempt will earn a place in the elite field, as will the leading three players not otherwise exempt from the International Series Order of Merit, from the International Series Thailand in March through to this week.

The inaugural USD 25 million LIV Golf Invitational Series tournament will be played at Centurion Club from June 9-11. 

Also Read : Vani drops from top-20 to finish at T-31, Amandeep T-39 at Italian Open

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Fubine Monferrato (Italy), Jun 5 (Golf News) A late double bogey on the Par-4 17th spoiled Vani Kapoor's card and she dropped from top-20 to finish tied 31st at the Ladies Italian Open golf tournament here.

Vani ended with cards of 73-72-72 for a total of one-over 217, while another Indian Amandeep Drall (74-71-74), at three-over, was T-39th.

Other Indians Tvesa Malik, Ridhima Dilawari and Neha Tripathi missed the cut.

Morgane Metraux of Switzerland, who had a 69 in the regulation final round, eagled the first extra hole in a three-way play-off with amateur Alessandra Fanali (67) and England's Meghan MacLaren (67).

Metraux birdied three of the last four holes at Golf Club Margara and needed a birdie on the par-5 18th hole to win outright in regulation play, but her putt from six feet lipped out and she was tied on 10-under-par 206 with MacLaren and Fanali.

Vani opened the final round with a bogey but steadied herself with a birdie on the Par-5 fifth for the third time in three days. She added birdies on 11th and 16th and looked set for a top-20 finish.

Then came the double bogey and she finished with a par on Par-5 18th for 72.

Amandeep birdied the fifth and then had a disastrous run of four bogeys in six holes between 10th and 15th before finishing with a birdie for 74.

After MacLaren and Fanali both made two-putt birdies in front of a large gallery, Metraux then holed a 20 foot eagle putt to earn the victory, before embracing her father, Olivier, who was acting as her caddie.

Following her tie for third in the Mithra Belgian Ladies Open last week, Metraux moved up to 10th position on the Race to Costa del Sol Ranking, while MacLaren, who was tied for second, moved up to sixth place.

Another Italian amateur, Carolina Melgrati was tied for fourth place with South African Casandra Alexander, while Lee-Anne Pace, also of South Africa who held a three-stroke lead after she holed out for eagle on the fourth hole, had to settle for sixth place.

The third Italian player in the top 10 was Roberta Liti, who shared seventh position with Kim Metraux and Nuria Iturrioz from Spain.

The LET now moves to Sweden for the Volvo Car Scandinavian Mixed, hosted by Henrik and Annika, a mixed gender event with the DP World Tour. 

Also Read : Lahiri misses cut by one shot, Smith leads at Memorial Tournament

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Newcastle, Jun 4 (Golf News) Shiv Kapur was the top Indian at tied third at the midway stage of the inaugural International Series England golf tournament here, with seven other compatriots also making the cut.

Kapur, who shot 67 in the first round, added 70 in the second to be at tied third with 5-under 137 and one shot behind Kim Joohyung (67-69) and South African Justin Harding (70-66).

Viraj Madappa took sole lead at one point as he was 4-under through eight holes in the second hole but slipped thereafter. He dropped three bogeys after that to finish the day at 1-under 70 and dropped to T-9.

Other Indians making the cut were SSP Chawrasia (67-74) at T-25, Gaganjeet Bhullar (72-70) at T-34, S Chikkrangappa (72-71) at T-42. Jeev Milkha, who improved from 74 in the first round to 69 in second, made the cut on the line as did Ajeetesh Sandhu (73-72) and Karandeep Kochhar (74-71) at T-60.

Rahil Gangjee (70-77), Aadil Bedi (76-75), Rashid Khan (73-78), Veer Ahlawat (78-74) and Khalin Joshi (77-77) missed the cut.

“All things considered, I’m happy. I got off to a good start today. I didn’t quite hold it -- a couple of three-putts on my back nine. But the front nine is the trickier side and a couple of tucked pins," Kapur said.

“But that’s always going to happen – to go blemish-free over 36 holes would’ve been a bit of a bonus. Overall, I’m in a good position. Hopefully the body can keep up on the weekend.” Harding took route 66 to surge into contention along with teenage star Joohyung Kim. The South African, a two-time winner on the Asian Tour, made a big move during the second round, climbing to six under par for the tournament.

Korea’s Kim, last season’s Asian Tour number one, tagged a 69 to his opening effort of 67. 

Also Read : Lahiri misses cut by one shot, Smith leads at Memorial Tournament

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Dublin (US), Jun 4 (Golf News) India's ace golfer Anirban Lahiri carded a disappointing one-over 73 to miss the cut by one shot at the Memorial Tournament here.

Lahiri, who shot 74 on the first day, finished at three-over 147 and missed the cut on Friday at Muirfield Village.

Two missed par putts from inside five feet on fifth and 12th saw Lahiri miss the cut for the second start in a row. He had earlier missed the weekend action at the US PGA Championship at Southern Hills.

Lahiri's will most likely next play at the Travelers Championship.

Cameron Smith, playing some of his best golf, moved into the lead. His highlight was a hole out with a downhill chip from beyond the green on the par-3 12th that carried him to three-under 69.

Smith was one shot ahead of Denny McCarthy and KH Lee at the end of the 36 holes.

In six previous appearances, Smith only made the cut twice and on both occasion finished outside the top 60. His best round was a 71.

But Smith, now a winner of THE PLAYERS Championship and the Sentry Tournament of Champions, is in a different frame of mind and in some superb form. His rounds of 67-69 gave him a total of eight-under 136.

Billy Horschel had a birdie chance at almost every hole but ended with four-under 68 that left him in the group two shots behind with Torrey Pines winner Luke List, PGA TOUR rookies Cameron Young and Davis Riley, and Jhonattan Vegas.

Rory McIlroy, with a 69, was three shots behind defending champion Patrick Cantlay, who closed in with two big par putts for a 69 and was at three-under 141.

The cut fell at two-over 146.

Among those missing out on the weekend action were Bryson DeChambeau and Harris English, both of whom were coming back from injuries.

Jon Rahm, winner here in 2020, had a 70 and was at two-under 142, six shots behind. He was six shots ahead after three rounds last year until his positive COVID-19 test forced his withdrawal.

Korea's Lee stayed on Smith's heels. Lee traded four birdies, which included a 40-foot monster putt, against two bogeys for a two-day total of seven-under 137 as World No. 3 Smith stepped up his bid for a third victory of the season.

Another Korean, Sungjae Im kept himself in contention with a second successive 70 to lie four back. 

Also Read : Shubhankar tied 87th in European Open, likely to miss cut

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Hamburg (Germany), Jun 3 (Golf News) Shubhankar Sharma opened the Porsche European Open with a modest 3-over 75 and is likely to miss the cut as he is currently placed a poor 87th.

Sharma, who had a decent top-15 finish last week, had one birdie and four bogeys leaving a lot of work to do to make the cut.

Joakim Lagergren and Li Haotong share the first round lead after carding five under par opening rounds of 67 at Green Eagle Golf Courses.

Two-time DP World Tour winner Li set the early clubhouse target after starting his round with three birdies in a row, making the turn four under par.

He then made two further gains on the back nine, cancelling out a bogey on the 16th with his sixth birdie of the day on the par five 18th. 

Also Read : Anirban Lahiri squanders flying start, lies T71 after round one

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Dublin (Ohio), Jun 3 (Golf News) After getting off to a blazing start with three birdies in his first six holes, Indian golfer Anirban Lahiri gave away the gains to finish two-over 74 in the first round of the Memorial Tournament, here.

Lahiri's 74 put him in the danger zone in terms of the cut as he was placed T-71 and needed a solid second round to ensure weekend action.

As many as six players were tied for the lead at 5-under 67.

The six were Cameron Young, Luke List, Cameron Smith, KH Lee, Mackenzie Hughes and David Riley, who is having a great run in his rookie season.

It was a day to forget for 2014 Memorial Tournament champion Hideki Matsuyama after the Japanese star was disqualified for using a non-conforming club, which violates the Equipment Standards Rule 4.c(3).

Lahiri, who hit 11 of 18 greens in regulation start from the tenth, birdied the 11th, 13th and 15th to go three-under. Then he ran out of birdies. He bogeyed the 16th and double bogeyed 18th after taking a penalty as he went into right rough off the tee.

On the second nine, he parred first to the seventh and then dropped shots on eighth and ninth as he missed par putts from 11 and seven feet. He also missed a birdie putt from 10 feet on seventh.

In-form Korean star K.H. Lee put himself in contention for a second PGA TOUR victory in a month after carding a splendid 5-under 67.

Lee's 67 equalled his lowest round at the USD 12 million showpiece, which is hosted by legend Jack Nicklaus and is one of three elevated tournaments on the PGA TOUR. It is also the third time in his career he has held the 18-hole lead/co-lead. 

Also Read : Tvesa among five Indians to tee up at Ladies Italian Open

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Fubine (Italy), Jun 1 (Golf News) Tvesa Malik, who is still seeking her first top-10 finish of the year on the Ladies European Tour, will lead the Indian contingent at the 26th edition of the Ladies Italian Open at the Margara Golf Club here.

The field of 126 players, include five Indians and has players from 28 countries.

Tvesa recorded a best finish of T-26 at the Aramco Series-Bangkok individual event and last week she was T-45 at Jabra Ladies Open.

In 2021, Tvesa had a series of top-10 and top-15 finishes and also came close to winning her maiden title by finishing second in Belgium.

She finished 19th in the Order of Merit.

The other Indians in the field, include Vani Kapoor, who has played in South Africa, Australia, Thailand and Europe this week, Amandeep Drall, Ridhima Dilawari and Neha Tripathi.

Last year's tournament was played behind closed doors due to COVID-19 pandemic and the winner was the French golfer Lucie Malchirand.

Malchirand will be joined by strong names, including Lee-Anne Pace and Caroline Hedwall.

Malchirand will try to become the first player since Laura Davies (1987-1988) to win back-to-back titles here.

Six of the current 10 best players on the Race to Costa del Sol will also be in the field -- Johanna Gustavsson from Sweden (ranked second), Tiia Koivisto from Finland (ranked fifth, who won last week's Jabra Ladies Open), South Africa's Lee-Anne Pace (sixth), England's Meghan MacLaren (eighth), Spain's Ana Pelaez (ninth and who recently won the Comunidad de Madrid Ladies Open) and Scotland's Michele Thomson (10th).

They will be joined by Spain's Carmen Alonso and Nuria Iturrioz, England's Alice Hewson, Gabriella Cowley, Annabel Dimmock and Lily May Humphreys and Finland's Ursula Wikstrom (runner up in 2021), as well as Sweden's Caroline Hedwall and Linnea Strom. 

Also Read : Milind leads in men's section, Avani tops among women in IGU Trials for WATC

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Hyderabad, Jun 1 (Golf News) Milind Soni shot one-under 69 to maintain his pole position even as Shaurya Bhattacharya (66) cut his overnight lead from three to two in the IGU Trials for the World Amateur Team Championship to be held in France later this year.

Milind is now six-under 134, while Bhattacharya (70-66) is second at four-under 136. Raghav Chugh (68-70) was tied-third with Tushar Pannu (72-66) for the day's best card.

Another youngster to turn in a good card was Krishna Nikhil Chopraa (72-67), whose score was the day's second best.

Among women, Avani Prashanth followed her three-over 73 with one-over 71 to take the lead at four-over 144, while Sneha Singh (75-71) moved to second place at six-over 146. Saanvi Somu (74-73) was third.

Milind looked like breaking away from the field as he was flawless over the front nine with three-under 31.

However he erred a lot on the back nine with two bogeys on 11th and 13th and also bogeyed 16th and 18th. His two birdies on back nine were on 14th and 15th as he was two-over 38 for the back stretch.

Shaurya had five birdies, one on the front nine and four on the back nine, and dropped just one shot during the day on Par-4 18th.

Nishna Patel (82-68) saw a 14-shot swing in her first and second round scores in women's section and moved to fourth. First round leader, Smriti Bhargava, after first round 72, slipped to 80 and dropped to sixth, one behind Mannat Brar (77-74).

A total of 14 amateurs in men's section and nine in women's category teed off in the trials.

The 2022 World Amateur Team Championships (WATC) for 2022 will be held near Paris in France. The 29th edition of WATC for women for the Espirito Santo Trophy will be held from August 24 to 27 and the 32nd men's championship for the Eisenhower Trophy will be played from August 31 to September 3.

The Le Golf National (Albatross Course) and the Golf de Saint-Nom-La Breteche (Red Course) will be used for the events. 

Also Read : Milind leads IGU trials for World Amateurs; Avani trails Smriti among women

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Hyderabad, May 31 (Golf News) In-form Milind Soni got off to a flying start in the Indian Golf Union-organised trials for the World Amateur Championships to be held later this year.

The 17-year-old Telengana golfer, who wore India colours at the Asia-Pacific Amateurs last year in Dubai, shot a superb five-under 65 that included a late eagle took a three-shot lead after the first round at the Hyderabad Golf Association course.

A total of 14 amateurs in men's section and nine in women's section teed off in the trials.

Milind, winner of the IGA Assam Amateurs in April and then the IGU AP Amateurs in May, is now looking at making a place in the Indian squad for the World Amateur Team Championship in France.

Among the girls, Smriti Bhargava edge past the fancied Avani Prashanth to hold the lead.

Smriti shot two-over 72 while Avani carded 73. Saanvi Somu scored 74 and Sneha Singh, who alongside Avani went to the recent Queen Sirikit Cup, scored 75 and was fourth.

The 2022 World Amateur Team Championships (WATC) for 2022 will be held near Paris in France. The 29th edition of WATC for women for the Espirito Santo Trophy will be held from August 24 to 27 and the 32nd men's championship for the Eisenhower Trophy will be played from August 31 to September 3.

The Le Golf National (Albatross Course) and the Golf de Saint-Nom-La Breteche (Red Course) will be used for the events.

Milind started superbly and had four birdies and no bogeys on the front nine, while the back nine started with five pars. Then he birdied 15th and had an eagle on 17th while dropping shots on 16th and 18th for one-under back nine and a total of five-under 65.

Chugh had five birdies against three bogeys in a round of 68, while Pranav had four birdies against three bogeys in his 69.

Chugh (68) was lying second, and Pranav (69) was third, while Shaurya Bhattacharya and Yuvraj Singh were tied fourth with cards of 70 each. Krishnav Nikhil Chopraa and Tushar Pannu, with rounds of 72 each, were tied sixth.

Two-time All India amateur champion, Aryan Roopa Anand and Akshay Neranjen along with Shat Mishra were tied eighth with 73 each. 

Also Read : India's Shubhankar Sharma finishes 14th at Dutch Open (DP World Tour)

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Cromvoirt (The Netherlands), May 30 (Golf News) India's Shubhankar Sharma completed a good week, laced with 18 birdies, with a Tied-14th finish at the Dutch Open on the DP World Tour.

Sharma had as many as 18 birdies over four days. But the Indian also gave away 13 bogeys.

The finish would nevertheless give Sharma a big boost, considering he missed four cuts in five previous starts.

After three birdies in his opening 71, Sharma had six birdies in a second round 71 and six more in his third round 69.

The final round saw two birdies on front nine but he gave away three bogeys in his first six holes on back nine before closing with a birdie on 18th for the third time in four days.

With a packed calendar ahead, Sharma will hope his birdie-making skills come good even as he works on cutting down the bogeys to improve on his 17th place on the Race to Dubai rankings.

The other two Indians, Gaganjeet Bhullar (73-74) and SSP Chawrasia (74-77) had missed the cut.

Meanwhile, the Dundee-based Frenchman Victor Perez, 29, was exceptional in clutch putting and held off Kiwi Ryan Fox in a play-off to win his second DP World Tour title.

Perez started the final day in a share of the lead but following Fox’s great show, he was three shots back as he stood on the 17th tee.

Fox double bogeyed the 18th and Perez birdied the penultimate hole and then missed a six footer for birdie. The duo went into a tie and a play-off down the par-five 18th.

Perez also earns himself a spot at The 150th Open Championship this summer alongside Fox and Pole Adrian Meronk, with the top three players in the top ten not exempt heading to St Andrews.

Meronk finished a shot out of the play-off after a 68, a score matched by German Marcel Schneider who finished at 11 under.

Swede Sebastian Soderberg and England's Matt Wallace were at ten under, two shots ahead of another Swede in Alexander Björk and Portugal's Ricardo Gouveia. 

Also Read : Indian golfer Vani Kapoor finishes T-41st in Belgium

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Wanze (Belgium), May 30 (Golf News) Indian golfer Vani Kapoor finished T-41st as she rounded off the week at the Mithra Belgian Ladies Open on the Ladies European Tour with a 71.

The 28-year-old Delhi golfer shot rounds of 75-70-71 as she tries to find her feet on the LET once again.

The other two Indians in the field this week Amandeep Drall (79-70) and Ridhima Dilawari (74-78) had missed the cut earlier.

Next week the action shifts to the Ladies Italian Open, where there will be a big Indian contingent.

Tvesa Malik will return to action after a break, while Vani, Amandeep and Ridhima will be joined by Neha Tripathi and Gaurika Bishnoi is among the reserves.

Swede Linn Grant won her second LET title in five starts in 2022 after firing a final round of 5-under 67 on the last day.

The 22-year-old, who won the Joburg Ladies Open in March, recorded rounds of 66, 68 and 67 to hold off England’s Cara Gainer at Naxhelet Golf Club.

Grant maintained her lead on the front nine with birdies on three and nine, before she went toe to toe with Gainer on the back nine. Birdies on 10 and 12, as well as a crucial eagle on the 14th put the Swede back in pole position, and a dropped shot on 16 put the duo level before Grant made a par on the last to win her second title with a total of 15-under-par.

It was an exceptional day for Gainer who fired a stunning 8-under 64, which was the joint-best round of the week, to finish in second place.

Maja Stark, who leads the 2022 Race to Costa del Sol, also shot a round of 8-under 64 on the final day to secure a T3 finish alongside Switzerland’s Morgane Metraux.

Metraux followed up her second round of 7-under 65 with a round of 5-under 67 on day three to finish level with Stark in third place. 

Also Read : Sneha top Indian at 14th, Indian team 9th at Queen Sirikit Cup

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Singapore, May 28 (Golf News) India's star amateurs Sneha Singh and Avani Prashanth had a modest finish at the Queen Sirikit Cup golf tournament, even as Japan ended its 20-year title drought in the tournament.

In sweltering conditions at Singapore's Laguna National Golf Resort Club, Sneha Singh (75-72-74-69) was the top Indian at tied 14th, while Avani Prashanth (75-73-78-74) was tied 24th. The third Indian, Janniya Dassani (80-82-78-73), was tied 33rd.

Mizuki Hashimoto won the individual honours with rounds of 70-64-72-73 and then combined with Miku Ueta and Ayaka Tezuka to secure their country's first Asia Pacific Amateur Ladies Team Championship crown since 2002.

The Indians finished ninth in the team standings.

Beginning the final day with a one-stroke advantage, the Japanese posted a last-round score of five-under 139 thanks to 16-year-olds Ueta (68) and Tezuka (71). That gave them a 72-hole aggregate of 20-under 556 and a seven-shot victory over New Zealand.

Chasing a seventh successive win and a 13th triumph in the past 14 stagings of the event, the Korean trio of Lee Ji-hyun, Kim Min-byeol and Bang Shin-sil made a bold early charge. Eventually, though, they had to settle for third on 566.

Hosts Singapore, led splendidly by Shannon Tan, were fourth (567), followed by Chinese Taipei (570), Thailand (574), Australia and Malaysia (577), India (589), Hong Kong (600), the Philippines (611), Indonesia (613) and Myanmar (677) Even as the individual glory went to Hashimoto, the reigning Women's Amateur Asia-Pacific champion, the evidence of the strength of the Japan team was that her closing one-over 73 was omitted in the event in which the best two daily scores in each three-strong team are counted.

Not one of the winning trio was born when Japan last hoisted the trophy at Malaysia's A'Famosa Resort, the 2002 team made up of Ai Miyazato, Kyoko Furuya and Ayako Uehara.

The 19-year-old Hashimoto has two more years of college ahead of her before she contemplates turning pro. 

Also Read : Deaflympics gold has spurred me to win medals at Asiad, 2024 Olympics: Diksha

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New Delhi, May 20 (Golf News) Bolstered by her unprecedented gold-medal winning run at the 24th Summer Deaflympics, Indian golfer Diksha Dagar has now trained her eyes on returning with medals from the postponed Asian Games and the 2024 Olympics.

The 21-year-old from Haryana defeated American Ashlyn Grace in the final to bag gold at the Deaflympics.

She thus became the only golfer with two Deaflympics medals – a silver in Samsun, Turkey in 2017 and gold in 2022, which is actually the 2021 edition of showpiece.

"Last time, when I lost in the playoffs, I was so disappointed because I expected to win. But this time, I was 100 per cent sure that I will return with gold because of my exposure and experience in international tournaments," Diksha told PTI during an interaction.

"I have played across the globe, against the best players, so I was confident and when I won, I was so proud to see the national anthem play in the stadium. This win is special because it is for the country and bigger than all my individual success.

"Now I want to win medal at the Asian Games and the 2024 Olympics. I have competed at the Tokyo Olympics but it was my first experience. Now I am so motivated to make my country proud in these major events." Dikha was not given a direct entry into the Asian Games with the Indian Golf Union (IGU) deciding to pick Aditi Ashok and Tvesa Malik based on their world rankings.

"IGU has played a major role in my growth as a golfer but I was really hurt and disappointed when I was not selected despite being only the second Indian to win two events in LET after Aditi Ashok," said Diksha, who had become the youngest Indian woman to win on Ladies European Tour when she claimed the 2019 Investec South African Women's Open.

She had also helped her team win the Aramco Team Series – London last year.

"I didn't know that they will pick two players on world ranking. I thought it would be like the Olympics. But now that the Asian Games has been postponed, I will start my preparation.

"Winning this medal has also spurred me to work harder on my game and rack up ranking points so that I can qualify for the event next year and win medals for the country." Coached by her father Col Narinder Dagar, Diksha has never sought the services of any specialised coach since turning professional in 2019 but now she is seriously planning to have a professional set up around her to prepare her for the Paris Olympics.

"I realised at Tokyo and other tournaments that playing against top players I will have to work hard and this is not enough. I need professional people around me like a specialised coach, physios, mental trainers, nutritionists etc.

"It will help me to play consistent golf. I have to work on my fitness and distance and if I can keep working hard I know I can win medals at Asian Games and Olympics." Diksha also won numerous titles as an amateur with the 2018 Singapore Ladies Amateur Open being the last as she turned pro the following year. "I can't imagine life without golf. I used to play tennis, swimming. But golf is something that I love most. I am a professional but I have been playing like an amateur but now I want to take my game to the next level," she signed off. 

ALso Read : Tvesa T-16 after Round 1, Aditi gets hole-in-one in Round 2 at Jabra Ladies

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Evian-les-Bains (France), May 20 (Golf News) Indian golfer Tvesa Malik carded two birdies and as many bogeys for an even par 71 to lie T-16 alongside compatriot Aditi Ashok after the first round of the Jabra Ladies Open here.

Aditi, who came in from the LPGA Tour, also carded 71 but had an eventful round with five birdies and five bogeys. The Indian duo was five shots behind Carmen Alonso of Spain who held a one-stroke lead after a round of 5-under 66.

While Tvesa was yet to start her second round till late afternoon, Aditi Ashok was an early starter on the second day and she had a hole in one on the Par-3 eighth hole.

It was her first hole-in-one as a professional. However, she carded a modest 3-over 74 that had an ace, a birdie and six bogeys. At 4-over for 36 holes, she was T-44th and should make the cut comfortably.

Things did not go too well for the other three Indians as Amandeep Drall (72-82) was T-94th and Vani Kapoor (79-85) was T-123. They were sure to miss the cut, which was likely to fall at 5-over.

Tvesa is looking to get back to the form that saw her finish 19th on the Order of Merit on the Ladies European Tour.

The winner of this week’s tournament will earn a place in the USD 6.5 million Amundi Evian Championship, the only Major in continental Europe, to be played in July at the same venue, and so there is fierce competition for the first prize.

Australian Whitney Hillier, who won the Team competition in last week’s Aramco Team Series – Bangkok, started her round with three straight birdies from the 15th to the 17th and signed for a four-under-par 67 to lie in second place alongside LET Rookie Gabrielle Macdonald from Scotland. 

Also Read : Tiger trouble: Woods winces way through opening 74 at PGA

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Tulsa (Oklahoma), May 20 (Golf News) By the time Tiger Woods walked toward the fifth tee box Thursday, the hot start to his return to the PGA Championship had turned cold, and what was quickly becoming a steamy day at Southern Hills had also become an agonizing grind.

Two early birdies that had him in the red seemed distant memories, replaced by mishits off the tee, wayward irons into the green, fliers out of bunkers and not enough made putts to save his round.

Woods wound up with a 4-over 74 on the same course where he won the 2009 PGA, leaving him weary of the cut line heading into Friday's second round.

"I got off to a great start and didn't keep it going,” said Woods, who was often wincing down the stretch on a right leg that was nearly amputated 15 months ago.

"I really didn't give myself any looks for birdie. I was struggling trying to get the ball on the green, and I missed quite a few iron shots both ways. It was a frustrating day." Painful one, too.

Woods was optimistic that after making it around hilly Augusta National during the Masters, the right leg that was so severely injured in a car crash would fare well on the reasonably flat, compact layout in Tulsa.

But whether he was fidgeting with a compression wrap on it during his second nine, or using his driver almost like cane as he walked down the fairways, it quickly became evident that the leg was bothering him.

After knocking his tee shot into the greenside bunker on his penultimate hole, Woods grimaced as he walked gingerly back to his bag. He then leaned heavily on it while watching playing partner Rory McIlroy hit his approach shot.

"My leg is not feeling as good as I would like it to be," acknowledged Woods, who missed last year's tournament at Kiawah Island while recovering.

"I just can't load it. Loading hurts, pressing off it hurts and walking hurts, and twisting hurts." At one point, Woods had five bogeys during an eight-hole stretch, and he added two more on his final two holes. The result was his worst opening around at the PGA since shooting 75 in 2015, when he missed the cut.

"We'll start the recovery process," Woods said, "and get after it tomorrow." Playing in the day's featured group with McIlroy and Jordan Spieth, Woods gave a huge gallery following their very move Thursday an early reason to roar.

He hit one of his few crisp approach shots at the par-4 10th and rolled in a birdie to begin his round, then hit his approach to about 13 feet at the long par-3 14th and made another birdie.

But a poor iron off the tee at the par-4 15th led to bogey, and another poor iron after a perfect drive at the 18th resulted in another. And after making the turn at even, Woods bogeyed three of the first four holes on the front side, then added those two to finish — including at the ninth, where he flubbed a chip shot from above the green.

"Hit a lot of bad iron shots in the middle part of the round and late in the round,” Woods said simply.

Making things seem worse? The fact that McIlroy was making things seem easy.

McIlroy aggressively hit driver just about whenever he could, while Woods conservatively hit irons off several tees in the hopes of finding the fairway. But the result was that the Northern Irishman was often 100 yards closer to the green, leaving him mid- and even short-irons for his approaches, and helping to produce a 5-under 65 and the early lead.

"Well, it wouldn't have been so far back if I would have hit the iron shot solid and put the ball in the fairway," Woods said.

"I was playing to my spots, and those guys obviously have a different game plan. It's just different." Spieth also hit driver whenever possible, though it didn't do him as much good. He struggled to a 2-over 72, leaving him in need of a low score Friday as he pursues the missing piece of the career Grand Slam.

Woods will also need a big second round at Southern Hills, but he can take comfort in having done it before. He shot 63 on Friday to seize control of the 2007 PGA, then cruised through the weekend to his fourth Wannamaker Trophy.

Then again, that was a long time and many injuries ago.

"Lots of treatment, lots of ice baths,” Woods said. “Try and get the inflammation out and try and get ready for tomorrow." 

Also Read : Tvesa Malik, Aditi Ashok among 5 Indians at Jabra Ladies Open

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Evian-les-Bains (France), May 18 (Golf News) Tvesa Malik and Aditi Ashok will lead a big Indian challenge at the Jabra Open as the Ladies European Tour returns to Europe this week.

The strong field of 132 includes five Indians.

Tvesa has played in Asia recently while Aditi Ashok hops from across the Atlantic where she plays the LPGA to get ready for the Majors in Europe.

The other Indians in the field are Amandeep Drall, who has travelled a lot over the past 18 months in search of events, Vani Kapoor and Suchitra Ramesh, who plays regularly on the Indian domestic Tour.

Tvesa is paired with former Hero Women's Indian Open winner, Camille Chevalier, and Spain's Harang Lee, while Aditi plays alongside Lucie Malchirand of France and Linn Grant of Sweden.

Amandeep Drall is paired with Ainil Bakar of Malaysia and England's Florentyna Parker, and Vani plays with Katja Pogacar and Emma Grechi of France.

Suchitra is drawn with Olivia Mehaffey of Norther Ireland and Klara Sionkava of Czech Republic.

Situated in the picturesque Evian Resort Golf Club on the banks of Lake Geneva, the French destination will see the LET stars compete for a Euro 250,000 purse over 54 holes from Thursday to Saturday this week.

The last year's winner Pia Babnik will be back to try to defend her crown, which she won in a playoff against 2020 champion Annabel Dimmock last time around, with Dimmock also in the field once again this week.

The 2010 Order of Merit winner Lee Ann Pace will also be looking to challenge at the top of the leaderboard, with the South African hoping to add to her 11 LET tournament victories in her career.

Pace has already tasted success this year at the Investec South African Women's Open, and there will be a further five 2022 winners in the field, with last week's Aramco Team Series -Bangkok winner Manon De Roey also in the field.

Meghan MacLaren (Australian Women's Classic) and Maja Stark (Women's NSW Open) will also be looking to make it two wins for the season, as will Linn Grant, who took the spoils at the Joburg Ladies Open back in March.

Johanna Gustavsson comes into the week off the back of a third second-place finish of the season is Bangkok, with the Swede also finishing as runner-up at the Aramco Saudi Ladies International earlier in the year, as well as at the Women’s NSW Open. 

Also Read : Kartik Sharma moves to second in Phuket as Mane is 6th

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Phuket, May 14 (Golf News) India's Kartik Sharma, a left-hander with a lot of promise and a bunch of Top-10 finishes on his domestic Tour, on Saturday shot a sizzling 67 to give himself a shot at his first pro title at the Blue Canyon Classic on the Asian Development Tour.

At nine-under, Sharma, who had carded 66 in the first round, is now T-2 with three others and is just one shot behind the leader, a Thai teenager Denwit Boriboonsub (66).

Kartik is tied second with Shahriffuddin Ariffin (69-64), Witchyapat SInsrang (67-66) and Swede Filip Lundell (66-67), who had a scary scooter accident on the eve of the tournament.

First round leader Udayan Mane, after a brilliant 63 on first day, shot even par 71 with three birdies and three bogeys. At a total of 8-under, he is Tied-sixth alongside three other players.

Five of the eight Indians who teed up this week made the cut. M Dharma (66-71) at T-28, Yuvraj Sandhu (70-68) at T-37 and Yashas Chandra (68-71) at T-46 were the others to make the cut in Beautiful Thailand Swing event.

The cut fell at 3-under.

Indians missing the cut were Divyanshu Bajaj (71-73), Karan Vasudeva (77-70) and Chiragh Kumar, who withdrew due to injury.

Denwit Boriboonsub, the 18-year-old from Pattaya, has carded successive 66s on the stunning Lakes layout at the famous Phuket club to sit alone atop the Blue Canyon Classic leaderboard at 10-under.

It will be a tight final round with as many as 35 players within five strokes of Boriboonsub, who finished Tied-second behind compatriot Phachara Khongwatmai at the Laguna Phuket Championship on the Asian Tour in December.

It propelled Boriboonsub inside the world’s top 500 for the first time. 

Also Read : Amandeep finishes 13th and Vani 23rd in Switzerland

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Flumserberg, May 14 (Golf News) Amandeep Drall held steady and carded 1-under 71 to finish inside Top-15 as she totalled 2-under 213 at the 2022 Flumserberg Ladies Open here.

Fellow Indian Vani Kapoor dropped a triple bogey late in the day on the Par-5 16th. Despite that she fought back for a birdie on 18th to card 73 and finished tied 23rd.

Amandeep dropped a shot on fifth, but picked birdies on Par-3s on seventh and 11th.

Vani, playing with Amandeep in the same group, birdied the opening hole and then parred the next 14. She had a disastrous triple bogey on 16th which spoilt her run. She birdied 18th for some consolation.

Dutch amateur Lauren Holmey won the tournament after a final day round of 2-under 70. The 19-year-old won by a single shot in just her third LETAS event.

After 14 straight pars to begin her round, Holmey hung in at the top of the leader board, before back-to-back birdies on the 15th and 16th saw her through at the GAMS-Werdenberg Golf Club.

One shot behind the winner Holmey was Germany's Patricia Isabel Schmidt, who rattled in eight birdies and an eagle on the way to a score of 66 (-6) on the final day.

Sweden's Anna Magnusson finished third on -6 after a final day score of 70 (-2), albeit having reached -8 with a birdie on the 13th, only for two bogeys on her last five holes to see her drop back into the pack.

The next LETAS event is the PGA Championship Trelleborg which takes place on May 19-21 at Tegelberga Golf Club in Sweden. 

Also Read : Udayan Mane cards 8-under 63, moves to top spot at Blue Canyon Classic

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Phuket, May 13 (Golf News) Udayan Mane carded a brilliant 8-under 63 to move to the top of the heap at the Blue Canyon Classic Golf, an event which is part of the Asian Development Tour (ADT) and MENA Tour.

The 31-year-old from Pune closed the last week's event with a 63 and finished tied seventh and now he has started the new tournament on top of leaderboard. Mane had six birdies and an eagle.

Mane's eight-under score included six birdies and an eagle on the 11th.

"It (the PGTI Tor Championship) was the biggest win of my career and it did give me confidence but I started to take things for granted and I paid the price," Mane said.

"I just expected to show up and be in contention, not consciously but the attitude was such. I did struggle, anyone would. Got a wake-up call and started to work at it again." He added:"Anyway, this is me trying to get to the top again. The goal this year is to play everything I get into and perform. Simple." There was a strong Indian presence in top-five as Kartik Sharma (66) and M Dharma carded 66 each to be tied eighth. The other Indians were Yashas Chandra (68) in T-22, Yuvraj Sandhu (70) in T-49, Divyanshu Bajaj (71) in T-66, Chiragh Kumar (76) in T-124, Karan Vasudeva (77) in T-131. 

Also Read : Three birdies in a row help Tvesa Malik make cut in Bangkok

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Bangkok, May 13 (Golf News) Indian golfer Tvesa Malik overcame sweltering heat and her cold form as she shot three straight birdies on the back nine to make the cut at the Aramco Team Series – Bangkok on Friday.

Tvesa finished the second day at 72 after 75 on the first day. At 147, she was T-38ᨊth. The top 60 and ties made the cut for the third and final round.

In the team competition, which was played over two days, Tvesa’s team, comprising Switzerland’s Nobuhle Dlamini and Anais Maggetti and local amateur Airi Misuhgashi, improved to the 15th place.

The team competition was won by Whitney Hiller’s team that included Krista Baker, Chonlada Chayanum and amateur Pattanam Amatanon.

The 27-year-old Tvesa is attempting to overcome inconsistencies that often come with a recent swing change.

While she hit the ball beautifully at the Ladies European Tour event, she just could not get her putter to convert several close chances in the opening two rounds.

Local hero Patty Tavatanakit (three-under par 69), led the field at nine-under par 133, two shots better than England’s Felicity Johnson (68) and Belgium’s Manon de Roey (67).

Former world No 1, Thailand’s Ariya Jutanugarn, was also in the mix. A two-under par 70 took her to tied fourth place at six-under par 138.

In Friday’s second round, Tvesa was staring at the prospect of an idle weekend, but things changed when she finally managed to roll in a 24-foot birdie putt on the 11th hole.

That was followed by another long birdie putt on the 12th hole, and then an even more unlikely putt from off the green on the 13th.

“It was still a very tough day. I don't think it was very easy to play out here. I was able to hit my shots close yesterday, as well as today, but just didn’t make as many pars as I needed to.

"Hopefully, I'm going to have another chance to do it tomorrow and hopefully, I can get some to drop,” said Tvesa, who was followed through the 18 holes by her father Aloke, mother Ritu and sister Kasvi.

“But I didn’t leave any putt short today. They all went past because I was really trying to make everything. It just wasn’t my day with the birdies. It just didn’t do what it was supposed to. I missed too many of them by very narrow margins," she added.

The Aramco Team Series is two competitions rolled into one – a USD 500,000 team competition, where an amateur joins the team of three professionals, and a 54-hole individual competition. 

Also Read : Ajeetesh Sandhu lie 20th at midway stage in Japan, Gangjee misses out

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Tokyo, May 13 (Golf News) Indian golfer Ajeetesh Sandhu made the cut with a solid one-under 69 but compatriot Rahil Gangjee missed out on weekend action by a stroke at the Asia Pacific Open Golf Championship Diamond Cup here on Friday.

Sandhu, winner of a Japan Challenge Tour event in 2017, is now one-under for 36 holes and lies T-20 after two rounds. He had scored even par 70 in the first round.

India's other player in the field, Gangjee, winner of a Panasonic Open Japan in 2018, however, missed the cut by one shot despite a valiant finish with two birdies in last three holes.

Bogeys around the middle of the round on ninth and 10th, cost him heavily. He was T-64th as Top-60 and ties made the cut.

Sandhu had two birdies against one bogey and at T-20 he is well placed to make a bid for a solid Top-10 or better finish.

Japan's young new star Kaito Onishi added a three-under-par 67 to his opening day 65 to take the clubhouse lead at the Oarai Golf Club, near Tokyo.

Onishi, joint overnight leader with countryman Hiroshi Iwata, began on hole 10 and impressively toured the back nine in four-under with birdies on 10, 11, 15 and 18, and then reached 10-under for the tournament with a birdie on the third, before dropping shots on five and nine.

Onishi leads by two as Rikuya Hoshino (67-67), Yuki Inamori (70-64) and Todd Sinnott of Australia (66-68) were tied second at 6-under. Shugo Imahira (66-69) is fifth.

The 23-year-old Onishi, who is from Nagoya, turned professional last year after graduating from the University of Southern California, but he has been quick to adjust to professional golf. Most noticeably he was fourth in the ISPS HANDA Championship last month. 

Also Read : Tvesa Malik has modest start, lies 51st in Bangkok

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Bangkok, May 12 (Golf News) India's Tvesa Malik had a modest start as she shot 3-over 75 in the opening round of the Aramco Team Series – Bangkok to be placed 51st individually at the Thai Country Club on Thursday.

Tvesa, who is leading one of the teams comprising Nobuhle Dlamini, Annais Maggeti and amateur A Mitsuhashi, was lying tied 19th in the team segment and tied 51st in the individuals.

Tvesa had just two birdies, both on the front nine on a hot and humid day, and she gave away five bogeys, three of them on the front nine and two on back nine.

Maggeti was the best in Tvesa's team with a round of 1-over 73 and was tied 36th. Dlamini shot 75 and was tied 51st like Tvesa.

Team Hillier, led by Whitney Hiller sat at the top of the leader board with a one-shot lead after the first day.

The quartet of Whitney Hillier, Chonlada Chayanun, Krista Bakker and amateur Pattanan Amatanon combined for an excellent first round, making the turn in 8-under and having an equally good back nine to be 16-under-par for the tournament.

Hillier, whose mother is Thai, was pleased with how her team began their round.

Team Simmermacher is one shot back on 15-under-par after Magdalena Simmermacher, Charlotte Liautier, Isabella Deilert and amateur Sirapob Yapala all contributed during their round.

Two teams are tied for third place with Team Henry and Team Tavatanakit both on 14-under-par.

In the individual competition, local star Patty Tavatanakit got off to a blistering start firing a course record 66 (-6) to set the pace and hold a one-shot lead. Seven birdies and one bogey saw the Thai talent end the day at the top of the leader board ahead of Spain's Ana Peláez.

Last week's Madrid Ladies Open winner Peláez continued her good form and signed for a bogey-free 67 (-5) which included three consecutive birdies on her last three holes.

Five players sit two shots behind leader Tavatanakit with Moriya and Ariya Jutanugarn, Marianne Skarpnord, Maha Haddioui and Anne Van Dam all tied for third place on four-under-par.

In the team competition, Team Hull and Team Ariya Jutanugarn are in a tie for fifth place on 13-under, while Team Hall, Team Lampert, Team Van Dam and Team Morgan are tied 7th on 12-under-par.

The second round will see the conclusion of the Team event. 

Also Read : Indian golfer Diksha Dagar claims gold medal ar Deaflympics

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Caxias (Brazil), May 12 (Golf News) Indian golfer Diksha Dagar outplayed American Ashlyn Grace in the final to bag gold medal at the Deaflympics, fulfilling her promise of improving upon the silver-winning performance at the 2017 edition.

Diksha is now the only golfer with two Deaflympics medals – a silver in Samsun, Turkey in 2017 and gold in 2022, which is actually the 2021 edition of Deaflympics.

The 21-year-old left-hander, who is a professional with victories on the Ladies European Tour, completed a dominant performance with a 5 and 4 win in the final of the match play section of the ladies golf competition. She beat Grace Johnson with four holes to spare In 2017, when golf was first introduced at the Deaflympics, Diksha, then still an amateur and still short of her 17th birthday, reached the final comfortably.

There she lost in a play-off to American Yost Kaylin, who at that time was also playing in the Symetra Tour and some events on the LPGA Tour.

In 2021, Diksha also qualified at the last moment for the Tokyo Olympics and became the first golf player to have ever played at both Deaflympics and the Olympic Games.

Turning pro in early 2019, Diksha won the Investec South Africa Women's Open that year itself. In 2021, she was part of the winning team at the Aramco Team Series London. Both events are part of the Ladies European Tour.

While still being an amateur she also won multiple times on the Hero Women’s Pro Circuit in India.

Diksha has a hearing impairment and started wearing hearing aids from the age of six.

The battle for the bronze medal was hard fought as Frenchwoman Margaux ended Norwegian Andrea Hovtsein's attempt for a second medal on the third play-off hole, that is the 21st hole. Andrea was the bronze medallist in 2017. 

Also Read : Tvesa Malik to lead team at Aramco Series in Bangkok

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Bengaluru, May 12 (Hockey News) Indian women's hockey team goalkeeper Savita on Thursday said the side's aim is to "make it to the next level" in this year's FIH World Cup after finishing in the last eight stage four years ago.

The event will be jointly hosted by the Netherlands and Spain in July.

In the 2018 edition of the showpiece in London, India lost 1-3 to Ireland in penalty shoot-out to crash out of the competition.

But this time around, Savita says India are well prepared to make the medal rounds. "With more players getting international exposure, and having gained confidence to play top teams in big-match scenarios, we are heading in the right direction of building a strong team for the World Cup," the senior player said.

"We made it to the quarterfinals last time in London, and the aim this time is definitely to make it to the next level." The World Cup will be played from July 1 to 17 but before that the Indians will gain valuable exposure in the FIH Pro League matches in Belgium, where they will take on the hosts on June 11 and 12.

The two matches will be followed by weekend games in the Netherlands, where India will play Argentina on June 18 and 19 and the United States on June 21 and 22.

The Indian women are placed in Pool B in the World Cup along side England, China and New Zealand. They will open their campaign against England on July 3 in Amstelveen.

Savita said healthy competition for places among the junior and senior players augurs well for India. "With new players coming into the group by virtue of good performances in the Pro League and Junior World Cup, there is healthy competition within the group and this is helping in bringing out the best in each one of us." 

Also Read : Odisha, Himachal win in Senior National Women's Hockey

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Bangkok, May 11 (Golf News) Tvesa Malik will be shouldering the responsibility of being the captain as she aims for a good show at the USD 1 million Aramco Team Series – Bangkok, starting Thursday.

The Aramco Team Series is like two competitions rolled into one – a USD 500,000 team competition, where an amateur joins a team of three professionals and a 54-hole individual competition. It will be played over next three days at the Thai Country Club.

In the team draft on Tuesday evening, Malik opted for the Switzerland's Nobuhle Dlamini, ranked 429th in the world, and Anais Maggetti completed her team through random draw. Both players are from Switzerland.

"I really like the concept of the Aramco Team Series. It's so much more fun because of the team element. I hope to have fun with my teammates and that should also help me play well in the individual part of the event," said Malik, ranked 334th in the world.

Malik has played six tournament this year, and made cut in three. Her best finish was a tied 25th place at the Asian Mixed Cup.

"Last year was a long year and I did not get much time to work on my game. So, towards the end of the year and until February, I was working on a few things with my coach (Jesse Grewal) in Chandigarh," said Malik.

The tournament has a strong local contingent, led by former world No1 Ariya Jutanugarn and her equally accomplished sister Moriya. The highest ranked player in the field is world No13 Patty Tavatanakit, winner of ANA Inspiration in 2021, the first major championship of the women's season. 

Also Read : Diksha enters golf final at Deaflympics, aims to improve on her silver from 2017

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Caxias Do Sul (Brazil), May 11 (Golf News) India's Diksha Dagar moved a step closer to the coveted gold medal at the Deaflympics golf competition here.

The 21-year-old, who last played at the previous Deaflympics in 2017, now has a chance to add a gold medal to the silver she won in Samsun, Turkey five years ago.

In the semi-final Diksha, who has been in dominant form throughout and been a cut above all opposition, outplayed 2017 bronze medallist Norwegian Andrea Hovstein Hellegjerde. Diksha won 5 and 4, which meant she was five holes up with four to go.

Diksha won her quarterfinal at 6 and 5 and in the stroke play to determine the seedings, she topped the field by 14 shots.

In the final, Diksha faces American Ashlyn Grace Johnson, who was second in the stroke play. Ashlyn beat French golfer Margaux Brejo 4 and 2.

Andrea has a shot at her second medal as she plays the bronze medal play-off against Margaux.

In 2017, when golf was first introduced at the Deaflympics, Diksha reached the final comfortably and seemed to be on her way to the gold medal as she led in the early stages of the title match.

She was three-up after six holes, but American Yost Kaylin, who played as a pro on the Symetra Tour and later some events on the LPGA, caught up with her to tie the match. In the play-off Yost beat Diksha in the first extra hole to grab the top prize.

Now Diksha has a chance to get her second medal at the Deaflympics and improve on it with a gold.

Diksha also qualified for the Tokyo Olympics last year and has won an individual event on the Ladies European Tour. She was also on the winning team of a Team event on the LET.

At the Deaflympics 2022, India has so far won four gold medals and two silver and are ninth in the medals tally. 

Also Read : Diksha enters semifinals at Deaflympics golf competition

News Source : PTI

New Delhi, May 11 (Cricket News) Virat Kohli is hopeful that his friend and South African superstar AB de Villiers will be back at the Royal Challengers Bangalore in a new role next year.

De Villiers had been a big part of RCB family before he retired from all forms of cricket last year.

"I miss him a lot. I talk to him regularly. He was in the US recently with his family watching golf... He is keenly observing RCB and hopefully he will be here next year in some capacity," Kohli said during a light-hearted chat posted on RCB's Twitter handle.

Kohli is enduring one of the worst phases of his career, having scored 216 runs in 12 matches in the IPL with just one fifty.

He has also been dismissed for three golden ducks this season.

"It has never happend to me ever in my career I think, so I just smiled. I felt like I have seen everything that the game has to show," Kohli said.

His poor form has raised concerns with Ian Bishop pointing out Kohli's inability to score fluently in the IPL this season. The former West Indies pacer also said that it was a matter of concern that he is getting out to different types of bowlers. However, Kohli said he doesn't pay heed to opinions and keeps critics at bay.

"They can't be in my shoes, they can't be in my shoes, they can't feel what I feel, they can't live those moment," the former India skipper said.

"You said how you cut the noise, you either mute the TV or don't pay attention to what people are saying and I do both of these things." With Kohli stepping down from RCB captaincy, Faf du Plessis took over the reins and Kohli said he always enjoyed mutual respect for each other.

"Me and faf have always gotten along really well even before he was captain of South Africa. Faf is a guy who is sure of himself and he has full authority on the field," he said.

"He tells me sometimes, if I mention things, that he doesn't want to do that, which I respect a lot. That only makes you gain respect for the person you are playing under." 

Also Read : Want to have focus and concentration levels of Pujara: Rizwan

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Caxias do Sul (Brazil), May 10 (Golf News) India's Diksha Dagar put herself in line for a second medal at the Deaflympics when she cruised into the semi-finals of the women’s golf competition here.

The Indian star, who has won twice on the Ladies European Tour, once each in an individual and team event, outplayed Germany’s Amelia Paloma Gonzalez Podbicanin 6 and 5. She was six up with five holes to go in the match-play contest.

Diksha will next take on Norwegian Andrea Hovstein Hellegjerde, who had a bronze medal in the 2017 Deaflympics, the year Diksha lost in the final.

Andrea beat Canada’s Sasha Laoun 4 and 3. While Diksha is a professional golfer, Andrew combined golf with a job as a kindergarten teacher.

The day’s biggest winner was Ashlyn Grace Johnson of the USA who beat Zuzana Lesse 8 and 6, which means she was eight holes up with six to go. Ashley will take on Margaux Brejo of France, who defeated Stefanie Mayer of Germany 5 and 4.

Diksha had topped the 36-hole stroke play, where Ashlyn was placed 14 shots behind the Indian. The top eight players qualify for the match-play section of the competition.

Diksha, who won the silver medal in 2017, is looking to go one better this time. She also took part at the Tokyo Olympics last year. 

Also Read : Indian-American Manav Shah wins on PGA Tour Latin America

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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. 

Also Read : Mixed feelings for Lahiri as he finishes Tied-6th at Wells Fargo

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Potomac, May 9 (Golf News) Two late bogeys ended Anirban Lahiri's title hopes as the Indian golfer carded a disappointing 1-over 71 in the final round to finish tied sixth at the Wells Fargo Championship.

It was a creditable Top-10 finish for Lahiri, his second of the season, but the Indian was understandably disappointed, having started the day at T-3.

Lahiri carded a 1-over 71 to finish the week on 3-under 277, five shots behind winner Max Homa, who clinched his second Wells Fargo Championship victory and fourth PGA TOUR title after a closing 68.

"Very disappointed with how I finished over the last six holes, I think I battled quite hard and I put myself in a good position to make a run with five, six holes to go," Lahiri said.

"I got through most of the difficult holes and then had close misses on 13 and 14, and then a poor shot on 15. Just a little disappointed and frustrated with how I ended up." Lahiri, who shot up 11 rungs to No. 74 on the latest Official World Golf Ranking, takes a week off and could miss playing the PGA Championship as he and his wife and he are expecting their second child soon.

"I'm taking next week off in the hope that No. 2 does come … we'll see. There's a high likelihood that if he does decide to show up this coming week, then I guess I'll show up at Southern Hills. Family definitely comes ahead of work." Lahiri has every reason to be upbeat after producing a second top-10 of the season on the back of a runner-up finish at THE PLAYERS Championship, the TOUR’s flagship event, in March.

He moved up to 44th place on the FedExCup standings and that should also enhance his bid to earn a place in the International Team for the Presidents Cup later this year.

"All in all, it was a really good week. To be in contention on Sunday was goal at the start of the week, so I can definitely look back and say I have accomplished the goal I had at the beginning of the week.

"I would have liked to finish it better and that's definitely a work in progress. I feel like I'm playing well enough to at least put myself consistently in this situation." Lahiri and his wife are expecting their second child, a boy, to arrive on May 22, the final day of the PGA Championship at Southern Hills.

Lahiri has earned his place at the PGA Championship but is prepared to give it a miss if the baby does not arrive earlier than the due date. His last major appearance was at the 2019 U.S. Open.

Looking for a fast start on Sunday, Lahiri, who had three birdies and four bogeys, dropped a shot on the first hole when he went from right rough to left rough and reached the green only in three and two-putted from 18 feet for a bogey.

He made up on the sixth with a fine second shot to four feet for a birdie. However, he dropped a shot again on seventh when he hit his tee shot to the native area and went into the left rough with the second. He did well to get his third to within five feet but missed the par putt.

A great chip on the 10th got him his third birdie and he was now 1-under. He holed a 12-footer on Par-3 12th to get to 2-under and a charge seemed likely.

He missed a six-foot birdie putt on 13th then saw a superb 26-foot putt slide past the cup to 11 inches which he tapped in for a par.

He had a poor shot on 15th and also dropped another shot on 16. With bogeys on both, he went from 1-under to 1-over and finished at 71.

Homa played solid and steady golf as he closed with a 2-under 68 for a two-shot victory. The 31-year-old finished at 8-under 272 at TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm to move into sixth spot in the FedExCup standings. He won for the fourth time overall, third in 15 months.

Matt Fitzpatrick (67), Cameron Young (66) and Keegan Bradley (72) were tied for second at 4-under 276.

Rory McIlroy shot 68 to finish alone in fifth, four shots back. 

Also Read : India's Diksha Dagar tops stroke-play, enters last eight in Deaflympics

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Caxias do Sul (Brazil), May 9 (Golf News) India's Diksha Dagar outclassed the field with rounds of 67-72 to top the 36-hole stroke play segment of the women's golf competition at the Deaflympics in Brazil.

The Indian, who won a silver medal at the 2017 Deaflympic, and competed at the Tokyo Olympics last year, was 14 shots clear of the second-placed American Ashlyn Grace Johnson, who carded 76-77 in her two rounds.

Diksha's 67 and 72 were the two best rounds of the two days and the next best was 76 by Ashlyn Grace Johnson and Margaux Berjo of France (76-78).

The top eight players from stroke play will now feature in the match play segment as Diksha takes on Alemie Paloma Gonzalez Podbicanin of Germany.

Diksha should have an easy passage into the semis as the German had qualified as the eighth best with rounds of 100 and 96.

The losing semi-finalists will play for the bronze medal.

In the men's section, India's Yogesh Dagar was Tied-18th and failed to get into the Top-16, who made the match-play section of the tournament.

India have so far won four gold and two bronze medals. Ukraine tops the table with 31 gold, 15 silver and 18 bronze. 

Also Read : Tvesa lands two birdies on back nine to make the cut in Spain

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Wishaw (UK), May 7 (Cricket News) India's Shubhankar Sharma and SSP Chawrasia made early exits from the Betfred British Masters golf tournament, hosted by Danny Willett after missing the cut by a fair margin.

Sharma, who was second at the Rolex Series Abu Dhabi Championship at the start of 2022, carded 73-74 and Chawrasia, a four-time winner on European Tour, shot 74-74.

Tournament host Willett raised 8,000 pound for Prostate Cancer UK by carding eight birdies on day two. While doing that he moved to within three shots of leader Hurly Long at the halfway stage.

Germany's Long carded a four-under par round of 68 at The Belfry to lead by one. Yet, it was Willett who roared into contention on the iconic Brabazon Course as he responded to an opening one over par 73 with a sublime 65 on day two to take his running fundraising total to 12,000 pound after 36 holes.

Tournament sponsors Betfred have pledged to donate 1,000 pound for every birdie and 2,000 pound for every eagle the 2016 Masters Tournament winner makes this week.

Long, who graduated from the European Challenge Tour in 2021, is one stroke clear of 2019 Betfred British Masters champion Marcus Kinhult, round one co-leader Thorbjørn Olesen and Scotland's Richie Ramsay, who all share second place on eight under par, with Denmark's Rasmus Højgaard a shot further back on seven under.

Willett is one of four players in a tie for sixth on six under, alongside countryman Marcus Armitage, South African Justin Walters, who lost in a play-off to Højgaard in the 2020 ISPS Handa UK Championship at The Belfry, and Sweden's Sebastian Soderberg. 

Also Read : Tvesa lands two birdies on back nine to make the cut in Spain

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Madrid, May 7 (Golf News) Indian golfer Tvesa Malik pulled herself out of a tough situation with two birdies and seven pars on the back nine to squeeze inside the cut line at the Comunidad de Madrid Ladies Open.

Tvesa, who has been trying to find her rhythm in 2022, shot 1-under 71 and at even par 144 for two days she is T-56 and right on the cutline.

The other two Indian players in the fray, Vani Kapoor and Amandeep Drall, who flew in from Australia for the week, missed the cut.

Vani, who shot 72-73 missed the cut by one shot, while Amandeep had a rough week with 77-76. The cut fell at even par and 64 players made it to the next round.

Finland’s Tiia Koivisto holds a one-stroke lead on 10-under-par at the halfway stage. The 28-year-old fired a six-under-par 66 to take control.

Tvesa, who has been having middling finishes this year, had a double bogey on the first day and she had another one the second day. While she had just one birdie on the first, she had three on the second day.

Vani had a birdie on first and then two bogeys on second and 18th in her round of 73. The bogey on 18th proved costly for the Indian.

Linn Grant of Sweden, who is second on the Race to Costa del Sol and the leading LET Rookie after winning the Joburg Open, shot a course-record seven-under-par 65 to share second spot with Spanish amateur Cateyana Fernandez, who carded a 67.

Another promising Spaniard, Ana Pelaez, lies in fourth position on eight-under-par, while her compatriot Carmen Alonso shares fifth with Agathe Sauzon of France and Pia Babnik of Slovenia.

Grant, who has Swedish DJ "Kaaze" acting as her caddie, carded eight birdies and a solitary bogey. This is her third LET tournament of the year and her first since South Africa. 

Also Read : Lahiri handles rain and cold to rise to 10th at Wells Fargo

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Potomac, May 7 (Golf News) India's Anirban Lahiri handled tough windy, cold and wet conditions well for 16 holes before dropping a double bogey to card 2-under 68 in the second round of the Wells Fargo Championship.

At 4-under, the Indian is T-10, up from overnight T-38, as he chases another good week on the PGA Tour.

Lahiri, just four behind leader Jason Day at one stage, is now six behind at the TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm.

The former No. 1 player Day shot 3-under 67 in steady rain and stretched his lead over the field to three shots as he attempts his first victory in four years.

Day is 10-under 130 through two rounds and Max Homa is second at 7-under. Denny McCarthy (69), Luke List (66), Kurt Kitayama (67), and James Hahn (68) are tied for 3rd at 6-under.

The weather took a toll as even the shots from the first cut of the rough saw water splashing off and the divots were big. Lahiri did well to hang in with six birdies, two bogeys and a double.

“Tough day, it was a grind. Weather was obviously difficult, you have to battle the elements. The golf course is hard and long enough to begin with," said Lahiri.

"I played really, really well, but missed a couple of putts. I think I could have avoided some of the bogeys that I made. Then right in the end on the 17th, I just lost control of the ball due to the heavy rain and the gust that we got at that point of time." Lahiri hit 12 of the 18 greens in regulation. After a string of four pars, he got an opportunity when he hit from 92 yards to inside 10 feet for his first birdie on Par-4 fifth and he converted that from seven feet.

On the very next hole, he hit his approach to just over 11 feet and birdied it to go 2-under. A six-foot miss for par cost him a shot on eighth and he turned in 1-under.

After the turn he hit two great approach shots to birdie both 10 and 11 and get to 3-under as the conditions stayed challenging. He missed the fairway and reached the green in three on 13th and gave away a shot, but got it back on 14.

Another fine second shot set up a birdie on 16 and at 4-under he was inside top-5. Then came the crushing double bogey.

On the 190-yard par-3 17th, Lahiri hit into the water off the tee. Following a penalty drop for his third shot he was 45 feet from the flag. He two-putted for a double bogey. He parred the 18th to finish 2-under for the round.

"I think it's going to get more of the same in the next couple of days, probably going to get a lot colder. Pars are going to be very valuable and birdies even more," Lahiri said.

Rory McIlroy shot 73 to finish at even par. Matthew Wolff, who shot 65 on Thursday, fell back with a 73.

Korean pair Si Woo Kim and K.H. Lee, and C.T. Pan of Chinese Taipei returned scores of 72, 71 and 73 respectively to move into the weekend rounds. They are tied 29th on 1-under.

Also Read : Lahiri lifts his game on final day to end T-15 in Mexico

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Puerto Vallarta, May 2 (Golf News) Indian golfer Anirban Lahiri carded a bogey-free 5-under 67 on the final day to finish T-15 at the Mexico Open.

He finished 20 places higher than where he was after three rounds.

With his third Top-15 finish in last four starts, Lahiri has begun to move in the right direction and his game has been showing a good upward trend. Lahiri was second at the Players Championship and T-13 at Texas Open.

Jon Rahm picked his first win since the 2021 US Open, which was 10 months ago, as he shot 2-under 69 and totalled 17-under.

Lahiri started with five pars, two of which could have been birdies from 11 and 10 feet. Finally a birdie came his way on the sixth when he almost chipped in for an eagle from 87 feet.

He tapped in for a birdie from four inches. On the very next hole, he again missed a six-footer for birdie and came out with just a par. So, in first seven holes, he had one birdie and two other near-birdies and one near chip-in. He got his second birdie on ninth and turned in 2-under.

On the back nine, he continued to give himself great chances and converted three of them, though it could have been more. He did a big putt from 35 feet for a birdie on Par-4 15th.

Lahiri moves up three places to 55th on the FedExCup standings but stays 85th on the World Rankings. PTI Rahm’s relief at his first win since the U.S. Open last year at Torrey Pines was evident that he celebrated after the par on the 18th at Vidanta Vallarta. The World No. 2 started the week with 64 and stayed in contention through the rest of the tournament and duly completed a satisfying win after beginning the final day with a two-shot lead.

Rahm led by one after his lone bogey of the round on the tough par-4 10th.

Wu’s 25-foot birdie putt on the 16th hole helped him join Rahm at 16-under and then Kitayama, playing in the final group with Rahm, got up-and-down on the par-5 12th to get into a share of the lead. Then Finau was birdie-eagle-birdie from 13th to 15th to get into the frame.

Rahm was 12 feet from a birdie on 12th and he made a superb putt for a birdie to break out of the tie and it proved to be a winning putt.

Rahm, who has at least one win each year for the last six, now has 14 worldwide wins.

Also Read : Mexico Open: Anirban Lahiri slips to T-35 in third round

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Puerto Vallarta (Mexico), May 1 (Golf News) Anirban Lahiri carded two-over 73 in the third round to slip to T-35 at the Mexico Open here.

It was not the best of days for the Indian ace as he twice went into water, once on each side of the course to slip down from overnight T-18.

He had two birdies and three bogeys in a round, where he found just seven of the 14 fairways and eighth of the 18 greens in regulation.

Lahiri is now 5-under for the tournament and will be hoping for a good finish to move up in the FedExCup standings.

Spain's World No. 2 Jon Rahm shot three-under 68 and opened a two-shot lead ahead of Cameron Champ (67) and Kurt Kitayama (66) who are tied for second at 13 under.

Davis Riley (67), Patrick Rodgers (66), and Nate Lashley (64) are tied for fourth at 12 under.

Lahiri's two birdies came on the par-4 second and the Par-4 seventh. He dropped shots on fifth when he went into water and another shot was lost on Par-5 sixth.

He went into the water a second time on the Par-5 14th but he managed to salvage a par there. His third bogey was on par-4 15th.

Rahm holds the 54-hole lead or co-lead for the seventh time in his career but he has converted the lead into a win only once in six times in individual stroke-play events.

He also held the lead with teammate Ryan Palmer on the way to victory in the 2019 Zurich Classic of New Orleans.

Kurt Kitayama seeks first PGA TOUR victory and Cameron Champ is looking for a fourth win.

Japan's Satoshi Kodaira is the top Asian as he carded a 67 with five birdies and one bogey for T8. He is chasing a first top-10 on TOUR in four years since winning the 2018 RBC Heritage.

Taiwan’s C.T. Pan (69) is T-17, while Kiradech Aphibarnrat (71), playing alongside Lahiri is T-30.

Also Read : Rahil Gangjee lies T-37 in Japan Golf Tour (JGP)

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Nagoya (Japan), Apr 30 (Golf News) Rahil Gangjee had an impressive 2-under 68 as he remained tied 37th after third round at the The Crowns Golf championship on the Japan Golf Tour.

Gangjee was tied 48th at the halfway mark. His other rounds have been 69-71 and is now 2-under for 54 holes.

Gangjee starting from 10th hole had eight pars before her first birdie on 18th and then added two birdies on first and second. He dropped a shot on third and a birdie on seventh followed by a bogey on eighth.

Junggon Hwang of South Korea put himself in a good position to challenge for a fifth JGTO victory after carding a two-under-par 68 to sit just one shot off the pace ahead of the final round on Sunday.

Local man Hiroshi Iwata (70-64-65) led the field with Hwang lying sole second. Jinichiro Kozuma (64), Daiki Imano (65) and Yuki Inamori (66) were tied-third.

Hwang, making only his second JGTO start since 2019, finished outright second with his three-day total of 10-under-par 200 as he trails defending champion Hiroshi Iwata by just one shot. 

Also Read : Asiad Golf: Madappa, Rashid among men, teenager Avani in women's category book berths

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Bengaluru, Apr 30 (Golf News) Viraj Madappa and Rashid Khan held their nerves to qualify for this year's Asian Games in Hangzhou, after a gruelling five-round trial meet at the KGA course, which ended on Saturday.

Madappa, who shot each of his five rounds under par with cards of 66-68-71-69-67 pipped Rashid to the post as four best rounds were counted in which he was found to be two strokes ahead.

Out of his five rounds, Madappa’s third round of 71 was discarded, while in the case of Rashid (68-73-67-66-71), the second round of 1-over was discarded.

That left Madappa with a total of 18-under 270, while Rashid's total was 16-under 272.

From the women's section, amateur Avani Prashanth continued her impressive march as she shot a steady final round of 1-under 71 and finished ahead of Jahanvi Bakshi, who after four identical cards of 69, shot 70 on the final day.

Avani's total of four best rounds was 14-under 274, while Jahanvi's four best rounds added up to 12-under 276. Hitaashee Bakshi, whose 66 was the best final round card, had the third best total of 6-under 282 for four rounds.

Sixteen men competed for two berths in the men's section and 11 women competed for one berth.

Anirban Lahiri and Shubhankar Sharma, the top two world ranked Indians among men, and Aditi Ashok and Tvesa Malik, the top two world ranked women were given direct berths into the Asian Games teams.

As Madappa had seven birdies against one double bogey, Rashid had three birdies and one bogey.

The Asian Games are scheduled to be held in Hangzhou, China from September 10 to 25. 

Also Read : Lahiri starts with solid 68, Rahm leads in Mexico Open

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Puerto Vallarta, Apr 29 (Golf News) Indian golfer Anirban Lahiri got off to a fine start despite a late bogey in the first round of the USD 7.3 million Mexico Open.

Lahiri, looking to cement his place for the season-ending FedExCup play-offs, shot three-under 68 with four birdies against one bogey after starting from the tenth tee. India's other player in the field, Arjun Atwal, who last week returned to competition in New Orleans after a long break, shot two-over 73 after starting the round with a double bogey on the 10th.

Spaniard Jon Rahm, the top draw this week, chipped-in for a birdie and made a late eagle putt for a 7-under 64 and be a part of a six-way share of the lead. Jonathan Byrd, Brendon Todd, Trey Mullinax and Monday qualifier Bryson Nimmer, who played his final five holes in 5 under, were also at 64 from the morning wave. Nimmer also holed a bunker shot for an eagle on the par-5 sixth hole. Kurt Kitayama handled the stronger afternoon wind to join the leaders at 64 with nine birdies.

Lahiri, runner-up at the PLAYERS this year, hit 14 of the 18 greens in regulation during his first round. Opening on the 10th, he got his first birdie on the long 637-yard par-5 12th, where he chipped his third shot to six feet and holed it.

On the 459-yard par-4 15th hole, Lahiri reached the green in two and putted from 17-feet to get to 2-under.

He added a third birdied on the 415-yard par-4 first hole after a drive to the right side of the fairway. His approach from 91 yards set him up for the birdie and moved to 3-under. On the 498-yard par-4 second, Lahiri reached the green in two and sunk a 19-foot birdie putt to move to 4-under.

However on the 496-yard par-4 eighth, Lahiri chipped his third shot to eight feet but missed a par putt and gave away his only bogey of the day.

A highlight of the day was an ace from Thai Kiradech Aphibarnrat, who sank his career first PGA TOUR hole-in-one on the 189 yard par-3 fifth hole with a 5-Iron on way to a 70.

Kiradech is chasing a maiden PGA TOUR victory after coming in T-3 at the WGC-Mexico Championship three years ago.

Aaron Rai, Aaron Wise, Sahith Theegala and Scott Brown were at 65.

Rai and Theegala could use top finishes this week to move up in PGA Championship points and try to secure a spot at Southern Hills in three weeks.

Next week is the final event for players to qualify in points, which is PGA TOUR earnings.

Chinese Taipei star C.T. Pan continued his pursuit for a second PGA TOUR victory after producing a solid 5-under 66 to lie two shots off the pace.

Pan, Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist, sank six birdies against a lone bogey for a 66. Japan's Satoshi Kodaira birdied his final hole for a 67 while Sung Kang of Korea shot 68s.

The Mexico Open is part of the PGA TOUR schedule and inherits the history of a national open that dates to 1944.

It takes the place of the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship that was at Chapultepec in Mexico City for four years through 2020. 

Also Read : Madappa still ahead among men; Avani and Jahanvi are tied in women's section at Asiad golf trials

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Bengaluru, Apr 28 (Golf News) Viraj Madappa stayed ahead of the pack despite a modest one-under 71 but his lead was cut to two at the end of the third round of the Asian Games golf Trials here on Thursday.

Madappa's 71 brought his three-day total to 11-under 205 and he is now two ahead of Karandeep Kochhar (69) at 9-under.

Rashid Khan shot five-under 67 and moved into Tied-third with Veer Ahlawat (69).

As four best of the five rounds will be counted, Madappa is just one ahead of Rashid Khan and Veer Ahlawat and Kochhar, who has three 69s is fourth.

In the women's section, Jahanvi Bakshi (69) and amateur Avani Prashanth (69) were still tied neck and neck at 9-under 207, while Hitaashee Bakshi (74) is third at even par 216.

With Avani likely to have the chance to discard her first round 76, she is five clear of Jahanvi in terms of two best out of three played so far.

The players will play five rounds each at the end of which the worst round will be discarded and the four best will be counted for final positions.

Rashid, the only player in the field with an Asian Games medal – a silver from 2010 – had the best round on Thursday.

He had three birdies and an eagle for a 67 while Kochhar had five birdies against two bogeys. Madappa had three birdies and two bogeys.

Avani, who had an 8-under 64 on second day, had five birdies against two bogeys and Jahanvi had four birdies and a bogey on 18th.

With Anirban Lahiri and Shubhankar Sharma having been given berths based on their world ranking, the men's section has two berths on offer, while in the women's section Aditi Ashok and Tvesa Malik have been selected as top two based on world rankings.

So, only one more player will be picked and amateur Avani and professional Jahanvi are locked in a tight battle. 

Also Read : Indian golfer Chawrasia lie T-64 in weather-hit event in Spain

Tarragona, Apr 24 (Golf News) Indian golfer SSP Chawrasia carded a decent 71 to lie Tied 64 after the third round of the weather-affected ISPS Handa Championship here.

There was a three-way sharing of the lead with Adrian Otaegui (62), Aaron Cockerill (62) and Hennie Du Plessis (66) all at 10-under after 54 with the third round coming to a finish on Sunday morning.

Scott Jamieson, who was at the top of the leaderboard after playing just five holes of his third round late on Saturday, slipped with a 74.

Play was delayed for a total of four hours and 48 minutes on day three at Infinitum as storms passed continually through the Tarragona region.

Home favourite Pablo Larrazábal was T-6 after a round of 68, which saw him open the third round with four birdies and then cooled off. 

Also Read : Hataoka wins title in Los Angeles, Aditi Ashok exits halfway

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Los Angeles, Apr 25 (Golf News) Nasa Hataoka carded 4-under 67 that included an eagle and four birdies to grab her sixth career LPGA title at the LA Open here.

India’s Aditi Ashok did not have a great week as she missed the cut with rounds of 77-73.

Hataoka began the final round with a four-shot lead and finished with a 15-under total of 269.

She won by a five-stroke margin over Australian Hannah Green, who carded a closing 68 for 274.

The highlight of the final day for the 23-year-old from Ibaraki Prefecture was a 35-foot eagle putt at the par-four 15th to lead by six shots so that a closing bogey was barely a blip.

Sweden’s Madelene Sagstrom had five birdies without a bogey in a 66 that put her tied for third on 277 alongside the 2019 winner Minjee Lee of Australia, who carded a 68. South Korean star Park In-bee closed with a 70.

World number one Ko Jin-young, who was tied atop the leader board with Hataoka after three rounds, suffered a late quadruple bogey and closed with a 4-over par 75 and was T-21. 

Also Read : Sunrisers Hyderabad beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by 9 wickets

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Noida, Apr 21 (Golf News) Manu Gandas of Gurugram and Amardeep Malik of Noida continued to be the top title contenders for the third day running at the Delhi-NCR Open here on Thursday.

On a day that was a lot cooler due to overcast conditions but much more windy compared to the previous two days, Gandas (65-69-67) and Malik (65-67-69) were tied for the third round lead at 15-under 201 with a four-shot advantage over the rest of the field.

While Gandas struck a determined five-under 67 to climb up one spot and join Malik in the lead once again after round one, Malik produced a fine three-under 69 to be at the top of the leaderboard for the third day in succession.

A fascinating finale awaits as Gandas has been in great form with a win and two other top-10s this season to be placed fifth on the PGTI Order of Merit, while Malik enjoys the advantage of playing at his home course where he has won both his previous titles.

Bangladesh's Md Zamal Hossain Mollah (69) occupied third place at 11-under 205.

Panchkula's Angad Cheema carded the day's lowest score of 66 to end in fourth place at 10-under 206.

Noida's Vikrant Chopra too returned a 66 to be placed tied sixth at eight-under 208.

Gandas, a two-time winner on the PGTI, was struggling to read the greens early in the round as he missed short putts on the first three holes that also led to a bogey on the third.

However, the 26-year-old Gandas quickly addressed the issue and found the hole for his three birdies that followed on the front-nine.

Gandas brought his chipping into the game on the back-nine where his chip shots were instrumental in earning him three more birdies and two important par-saves. Malik, the overnight sole leader by two shots, mixed five birdies with two bogeys.

The 36-year-old Malik capitalised on three of the four par-5s, chipped-in for birdie on the 10th and landed his approach within a foot for a tap-in birdie on the 12th. Malik's long-range birdie putts narrowly missed the pins on the last two holes.

Chandigarh's Abhijit Singh Chadha (72) was in fifth place at nine-under 207. 

Also Read : Amardeep posts 67 to build two-shot lead at Delhi-NCR Open 2022

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Noida, Apr 20 (Golf News) Amardeep Malik, playing on his home course, shot a brilliant five-under 67 to build a two-shot lead at 12-under 132 during the halfway stage of the Delhi-NCR Open 2022 golf tournament here on Wednesday.

Bengaluru's Mari Muthu R shot the day's lowest score of eight-under 64 to be placed tied second at 10-under 134 along with Manu Gandas (69) of Gurugram at the Rs 40 lakh event, presented by Prometheus School and played at the Noida Golf Course.

The cut went at one-over 145. Fifty-one professionals made the cut.

Noida-based Amardeep (65-67) began the day with a birdie on the first and then added three more birdies on the sixth, eighth and ninth for a strong front-nine. He landed his approach within two feet on the ninth.

The 36-year-old Amardeep, the overnight joint leader, had a turbulent start to the back-nine stumbling with bogeys on the 11th and 13th where he missed up and downs. He made a comeback with an eagle on the par-4 15th where he holed his second shot from the rough from a distance of 95 yards. He picked up another shot on the 16th with a 25-feet conversion to close the day with a two-shot lead. Muthu (70-64), lying tied 15th and five off the lead after round one, jumped 13 places to joint second, courtesy his 64 that featured 10 birdies and two bogeys.

Manu (65-69), a two-time winner on the PGTI, dropped out of the overnight joint lead with an eventful round that featured an eagle, four birdies, a bogey and a double-bogey.

He landed his second shot within a couple of feet of the pin for eagle on the par-5 17th. He also chipped-in for birdie on the fourth. Manu was five-under on the four par-5s for the second day in succession. Chandigarh's Abhijit Singh Chadha (69) occupies fourth place at nine-under 135 while Bangladesh's Md Zamal Hossain Mollah (70) is a further shot back in fifth position.

Yuvraj Singh Sandhu (72) of Chandigarh, currently ranked second on the PGTI Order of Merit, is in tied 43rd place at one-over 145. 

Also Read : Amardeep and Manu take joint first round lead at Delhi-NCR Open 2022

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Noida, Apr 19 (Golf News) Amardeep Malik and Manu Gandas shot similar seven-under 65s to take joint lead in round one of the Delhi-NCR Open 2022 here on Tuesday.

Bangladesh's Md Zamal Hossain Mollah, Chandigarh-based Abhijit Singh Chadha and Shivendra Singh Sisodia of Gurugram were tied third with matching scores of 66.

Noida's Amardeep was off to a flying start at his home course as he scored four birdies in his first six holes, hitting his irons well and rolling in the putts. He then added another birdie and bogey on the back-nine before sinking an eagle on the first hole from four feet.

The 36-year-old Amardeep's longest putt of the day was the 15-feet birdie conversion on the second. His progress slowed down thereafter as his putter went cold on the front-nine and he missed some short putts at the Rs. 40 lakh event.

"I was lucky that I made a few putts in the start that got my round going. The putter then went cold on the front-nine but I hit it well all day and am very pleased to have posted my lowest score this season," Amardeep, a two-time winner on the PGTI, said.

Gurugram's Manu began his tournament with an eagle on the first where he had a lucky break after his drive rebounded off a tree back onto the fairway.

Manu's second shot landed a couple of feet from the flag to give him the ideal start. The two-time winner on the PGTI thereafter added six more birdies and a bogey to his card as he went five-under on the four par-5s.

"I feel I had good control on my ball-flight today and struck my woods and irons well. I had one lucky break on the first hole and I managed to capitalize on that. That kept the momentum going for me and there was no silly mistake thereafter," Manu said.

Among the pre-tournament favourites, Yuvraj Singh Sandhu began with a 73 to be tied 48th while defending champion Udayan Mane signed for a 74 to be tied 65th. 

Also Read : Rashid, Joshi among top names for Delhi-NCR Open Golf C'ship

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New Delhi, Apr 18 (Golf News) Former Asian Tour winners Rashid Khan and Khalin Joshi will headline a stellar field when the Delhi-NCR Open Golf Championship 2022 gets underway at the Noida Golf Course here on Tuesday.

The fourth edition of the tournament will be jointly staged by the TATA Steel Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) and Prometheus School, Noida.

The tournament, the ninth event of the 2022 TATA Steel PGTI season, carries a prize purse of Rs. 40 lakh.

The Pro-Am event will be staged on April 23. The tournament is set to feature some of the top Indian professionals such as Tokyo Olympian and defending champion Udayan Mane, Yuvraj Singh Sandhu (Ranked No. 2 on the PGTI Order of Merit), two-time winner on Asian Tour winner Rashid and Panasonic winner Joshi, as well as former champion Honey Baisoya.

The other prominent names include Asian Tour regular Aman Raj, Karandeep Kochhar, Manu Gandas and Abhijit Singh Chadha.

The other leading golfers from the Delhi-NCR region participating in the event include Shamim Khan, Abhinav Lohan, Kartik Sharma, Sachin Baisoya and Amardeep Malik, to name a few.

The foreign challenge will be led by Sri Lankans Mithun Perera, N Thangaraja and Anura Rohana, Bangladeshis Md Zamal Hossain Mollah, Badal Hossain, Md Akbar Hossain, Md Sayum, Md Muaj and Md Somrat Sikdar as well as Nepal’s Sukra Bahadur Rai.

"We're excited to stage the fourth edition of the Prometheus School presents Delhi-NCR Open, an event which has emerged as one of the mainstays on the TATA Steel PGTI in recent years," Uttam Singh Mundy, CEO, PGTI, said in a release.

"The depth in the field at the tournament provides a perfect setting for the culmination of a strong first half of the 2022 PGTI season which has witnessed nine back-to-back events." 

Also Read : Indian golfer Aditi Ashok finishes T-41 in Hawaii, Korea's Kim wins title

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Oahu (US), Apr 17 (Golf News) Indian golfer Aditi Ashok shot a two-over 74 in the final round to finish a modest T-41 at the 2022 LOTTE Championship here.

Aditi, who was Tied-second after the first round, suffered her second birdie-less round of the week. With rounds of 67-73-76-74, she finished with a total of two-over 290.

Aditi, who had one bogey and 17 pars in the second round, had two bogeys and 16 pars on the final day. Her third round of 4-over 76, where he gave away five shots in last five holes, proved costly.

Korea's Hyo Joo Kim captured her fifth career LPGA Tour title by shooting a final-round 71 to reach 11-under. She finished two strokes clear of Hinako Shibuno of Japan.

Kim, who started the day with a three-stroke advantage, bogeyed the par-3 17th to drop her lead to just one.

But Kim executed a superb pitch from off the green at No. 18 at Hoakalei Country Club, leaving herself a 2-foot birdie putt to take the victory.

Kim was always a step ahead of Shibuno, who carded two birdies in the final round for a bogey-free 70. That clean scorecard was not enough to earn Shibuno her first win since the 2019 AIG Women’s Open.

Kim’s countrywoman Hye-Jin Choi shot a final-round 69 to take solo third at seven-under, her best LPGA Tour finish since a tie for second since early 2020.

South African Ashleigh Buhai finished fourth at six-under, while Korea's Somi Lee rounded out the top five at five-under.

Californian Brianna Do, who earned a spot in the tournament via the local qualifier, played in the final group with Kim and Shibuno but could not recapture the magic that had been with her all week.

With a 5-over 77 on Saturday, Do fell into a tie for 12th. 

Also Read : Lahiri shoots bogey free 69, lies tied 56th in RBC Heritage golf

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Hilton Head Island (US), Apr 17 (Golf News) India's Anirban Lahiri played a bogey free round and found a lot of greens in regulation but not enough inside 10 feet to give himself chances and ended with two-under 69 in the third round of the RBC Heritage golf tournament here.

Lahiri hit 16 of the 18 greens in regulation and was bogey free for the day. With rounds of 69-73-69, he is now two-under and tied for 56th spot.

Harold Varner III shot an eight-under 63 to take a one-shot lead, as he continued his quest for a maiden PGA TOUR victory.

Varner III had eight birdies in a bogey-free round. His round matched Cameron Young's opening day score as the lowest at Harbour Town Golf Links this week.

Varner III is now at 11-under 202.

For Lahiri, a birdie at almost the start of the round and then at the 18th summed up his round. However, he did not give himself many chances inside 10 feet and of three times or so, he converted two. On others he two-putted for pars.

On the 550-yard par-5 second hole, Lahiri reached the green in three and sunk a four-foot putt for birdie.

Then after a drive to the right side of the fairway on the 472-yard par-4 18th hole, Lahiri had a 177 yard approach shot to eight feet, setting him up for the birdie.

Varner III is being pursued by the FedExCup champion Patrick Cantlay, the 2019 Open Championship winner Shane Lowry of Ireland and Erik van Rooyen of South Africa. The trio was one shot back.

Cantlay, the second-round leader, had a 70, while Lowry shot 65 and van Rooyen had a 67.

Matt Kuchar, Hudson Swafford, Sepp Straka and Aaron Wise were nine-under. Swafford shot 66, Kuchar and Straka 67 each and Wise 68.

Varner III, who has two international victories but none on the PGA Tour, seemed frustrated by a ruling in the second round in which he scored 72. But he made up for it in the third.

Lowry also came back from a 72 on Friday to get within a shot of the lead. He is looking for his third career TOUR win and first since the Open in 2019.

Cantlay, who ended his second round with four straight birdies from 15 to 18th, the toughest stretch of the course, was unable to find the same form in the third round.

Tommy Fleetwood posted a 64 to give himself a chance for his first PGA Tour win. 

Also Read : Madappa rises to T-12, Diksha is T-60 at Asian Mixed Stableford Challenge

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New Delhi, Apr 15 (Shooting News) West Bengal’s Mehuli Ghosh upstaged Tilottama Sen of Karnataka to win the women’s 10m air rifle T3 (third trial) competition at the national selection trials here on Friday.

Mehuli prevailed 16-8 in the gold medal contest.

Olympian Elavenil Valarivan, representing Gujarat, won bronze after topping the qualification round with a sublime 632.

Shooting on competition day eight, Mehuli was initially sixth in the first qualification round with a score of 629.1, while Tilottama qualified seventh with the same score but with lesser inner 10s.

In the top eight final stage, Mehuli topped with a 261.9, while Tilottoma was a close second with 261.6, even as Elavenil settled for bronze with a 260.3.

Mehuli’s experience then saw her through in the gold medal clash.

In the junior women’s 10m air rifle T3 contest, Himachal Pradesh’s Zeena Khitta emerged triumphant with a 17-11 scoreline over Haryana’s Ramita.

In the youth category, Haryana's Nancy overcame Maharashtra’s Isha Anil Taksale 16-4 in the gold medal match. 

Also Read : Madhya Pradesh's Aishwarya Pratap Singh Tomar wins at selection trials, Rajput second

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Pattaya (Thailand), Apr 15 (Golf News) India's Viraj Madappa shot five birdies against one bogey for a fine third round to be placed placed T-12, with one more round to go in the Trust Golf Asian Mixed Stableford Challenge golf tournament here on Friday.

Madappa, tied-second on the first day, had dropped to T-15 after second. He collected nine points and took his tally to 28.

American Sihwan Kim, who logged 22 points in the first round, but lost two points on a disappointing second day, was back in full flow in the third.

Kim was in terrific form with 11 birdies and no bogeys for 22 points, which in conventional scoring would have translated to 11-under 61 at Siam Country Club's Waterside Course. His first round 22 points worked to 10-under 62 and he had a 76 in the second round.

The other Indians -- Rashid Khan (21 points) had five birdies against three bogeys in the third round and was T-36, while Veer Ahlawat (21 points), with an eagle and three birdies against one bogey, was also T-36.

Shiv Kapur, with five birdies against two bogeys and a double, added five more points to get to 16 and was T-56.

The lone Indian woman in the fray, Diksha Dagar had three birdies against two bogeys and was T-60 with a total of 15 points. Tvesa Malik had missed the cut.

Overnight leader Thailand's Chanettee Wannasaen, her compatriot Natipong Srithong and Maja Stark from Sweden are second with 34 points, while Budsabakorn Sukapan from Thailand is fifth with 33.

The innovative new USD 750,000 tournament is being jointly sanctioned by the Asian Tour and Ladies European Tour (LET). 

Also Read : Yuvraj's flawless 65 takes him to joint lead at PGTI Players Championship

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Chandigarh, Apr 14 (Golf News) Yuvraj Singh Sandhu registered the lowest score of the day, an error-free seven-under 65, to move up five spots into the joint lead after the third round of Rs 50 lakh TATA Steel PGTI Players Championship golf tournament here on Thursday.

Chandigarh-lad Yuvraj (70-67-65) shared the top spot at 14-under 202 with Bangladesh's Md Zamal Hossain Mollah (67-66-69), who produced a three-under 69 on Thursday, his second straight bogey-free round, to gain one spot on the leaderboard.

Gurugram-based duo of Kartik Sharma (67-69-67) and Shivendra Singh Sisodia (68-63-72) lurked one shot behind in tied third place at 13-under 203.

Kartik and Shivendra kept themselves in contention with third round scores of 67 and 72 respectively.

Angad Cheema returned a 70 to occupy fifth place at 10-under 206.

Yuvraj, currently second on the PGTI Order of Merit with a win and three other top-10s in 2022 so far, had a cold start as he missed a short putt for a birdie on the second.

However, he finally made breakthroughs on the fourth and ninth where he rolled in birdies from five feet.

The 25-year-old, who has been in red-hot form since the latter half of 2021, then revved up the engine on the back-nine where he collected five more birdies.

Yuvraj produced a great second shot from the rough to set up a five-feet birdie conversion on the 12th and then nearly holed-out his approach on the 15th on a day the pin positions were the toughest even as there was lesser wind.

The two other Chandigarh golfers in the top-10 were defending champion Karandeep Kochhar (68) and Ranjit Singh (69). Karandeep was placed seventh at eight-under 208 while Ranjit was in eighth position at seven-under 209.

Chandigarh's Abhijit Singh Chadha, who was overnight third, dropped to tied 15th at four-under 212 following a 77 in round three.

Udayan Mane (74) was also in tied 15th place. 

Also Read : Madappa lies second at Asian Mixed golf; Tvesa top woman at 56th

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Pattaya (Thailand), Apr 13 (Golf News) Viraj Madappa, who has made every cut in 2022, relished the challenge in the Stableford format as he moved to Tied-second place at the Trust Golf Asian Mixed Stableford Challenge, here on Wednesday.

The tall Madappa, who started with a modest string of five pars, followed with two birdies and a bogey and turned with three points. On the back nine he sizzled with six birdies on 11th, 13th, 14th 15th, 17th and 18th.

That fetched him 12 points for a day's total of 15 at Asian Tour's first Modified Stableford scoring event.

The 24-year-old Madappa, who won his sole Asian Tour event in 2018, was seven points behind the leader, the current Asian Tour number, Sihwan Kim (22 points), who holed an incredible 40-foot eagle putt in near darkness on the par-five 18th on a weather-hit day.

Of the two Indian women in the fray, Tvesa Malik finished with five points and was T-56 while Diksha Dagar had four points in T73. Tvesa had three birdies and a bogey on the front nine and finished with nine pars on the back nine. Diksha had three birdies and two bogeys.

Among the Indian men players, Veer Ahlawat had six points from 15 holes at T-46, Aman Raj had five and Rashid had five points through 16 holes for T-56, SSP Chawrasia had four in T-73, Gaganjeet Bhullar and Shiv Kapur had three each and were T-82. Ajeetesh Sandhu with one birdie and two bogeys and S Chikkarangappa with two birdies and four bogeys had zero points.

The USD 750,000 tournament jointly-sanctioned with the Ladies European Tour, is being played on the Modified Stableford format with an albatross fetching 8 points, an eagle 5 points, birdie 2 points, par 0 points.

A bogey means one point kid deducted and a double bogey or more costs 3 points. If at the end of four days there is a tie for 1st place, the winner will be decided by a normal stroke play hole-by-hole playoff.

As many as 39 players from a field of 144 players made up of 60 from the Asian Tour, 60 from Ladies European Tour and 24 invites, will come to finish the first round on Thursday.

Kim's 22 points translated into conventional scoring would have been 10-under 62. He had seven points on the front nine, gathered five birdies and an eagle for 15 points on the back nine.

He finished just as the hooter sounded during a long day disrupted by a two-hour weather delay in the morning.

Alongside Madappa, the others in the shared second place are reigning Asian Tour Order of Merit champion Joohyung Kim from Korea, Hung Chien-yao from Chinese-Taipei and Rory Hie from Indonesia. 

Also Read : Udayan Mane, Khalin Joshi, Kochhar to headline TATA Steel PGTI Players Championship

News Source : PTI

London, Apr 12 (Sports News) Victoria will host the 2026 Commonwealth Games with the Australian state's regional centres organising the majority of events in a break from the traditional single host city model.

The Games will be staged in March 2026 across multiple cities and regional hubs including Melbourne, Geelong, Bendigo, Ballarat and Gippsland, each with its own athletes' village.

The opening ceremony will take place at the iconic 100,000-capacity Melbourne Cricket Ground, the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) announced on Tuesday.

The announcement follows an exclusive dialogue period between the CGF, Commonwealth Games Australia (CGAus) and Victoria.

An initial list of 16 sports, including Twenty20 cricket, have been put forward for the Games, with further sports to be added later this year.

The initial list, however, does not feature disciplines such as shooting and wrestling, sports in which India has done well in the previous editions of the sporting extravaganza.

Archery also does not feature in the list.

Premier of Victoria Daniel Andrews said: "It's a great honour to have Victoria chosen as the host venue for the 2026 Commonwealth Games - we can't wait to welcome the world to all of our state.

"The Commonwealth Games in regional Victoria is great for jobs, hospitality and our economy." Australia has staged the Commonwealth Games on five occasions, with Victoria playing host to the Melbourne 2006 Games; widely considered one of the most successful editions of the event in history.

The country has also staged the Games in Sydney in 1938, Perth in 1962, Brisbane in 1982 and most recently Gold Coast in 2018. Victoria has also hosted the Commonwealth Youth Games in Bendigo in 2004.

CGF President Dame Louise Martin said: "The Commonwealth Games Federation is absolutely delighted to award the 2026 Commonwealth Games to Victoria.

"Commonwealth Games Australia and the Victorian Government have set out a bold and innovative vision for hosting our major multi-sport event. In Victoria, we believe we have found the perfect partner for the next stage of our journey." As per the CGF's new "strategic roadmap" unveiled at its 2021 General Assembly on October 11, athletics and swimming will be the only compulsory sports in the CWG from the 2026 edition, allowing host cities greater freedom to include disciplines of their choice from a proposed core list of 22 sports.

The proposed core list of the Commonwealth Games Federation after a review includes shooting, wrestling and archery. Disciplines that have previously been listed as optional sports such as T20 cricket, beach volleyball and 3x3 basketball were also brought under the proposed core list of sports.

The roadmap was approved at the CGF's General Assembly, which was held virtually last year.

The 2026 Games will be the 23rd edition of the major multi-sport competition, which first began in Hamilton, Canada in 1930.

Victoria is a world-leading major events and tourism destination. The state has a strong track record for staging high profile sporting competitions including The Australian Open tennis grand slam, the Melbourne Formula 1 Grand Prix and the Melbourne Cup.

The state also regularly hosts elite cricket, golf and Australian Rules Football competition. 

Also Read : India to host the 44th Chess Olympiad

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Chandigarh, Apr 11 (Golf News) Indian golfers Udayan Mane, Khalin Joshi and defending champion Karandeep Kochhar will headline the The TATA Steel PGTI Players Championship, starting here on Tuesday.

The tournament, which will be played at the Chandigarh Golf Club from April 12 to 15, carries a prize purse of Rs 50 lakh.

The Pro-Am event will be staged on April 16.

The field of 126 players includes 123 professionals and three amateurs.

The leading Indian professionals in the fray apart from the the trio, include Honey Baisoya, Yuvraj Singh Sandhu, Kshitij Naveed Kaul, Manu Gandas, Abhijit Singh Chadha, Akshay Sharma and Aadil Bedi.

Local lad Sandhu, currently ranked second on the TATA Steel PGTI Order of Merit, is the highest-ranked player on the Order of Merit among those participating in the event.

The foreign challenge will be led by Sri Lankans Mithun Perera, N Thangaraja and Anura Rohana, Bangladesh's Md Zamal Hossain Mollah, Badal Hossain, Md Akbar Hossain, Md Sayum, Md Muaj and Md Somrat Sikdar as well as Nepal's Sukra Bahadur Rai.

"We thank Chandigarh Golf Club for their support in helping establish the TATA Steel PGTI Players Championship as a regular feature in Chandigarh," said Uttam Singh Mundy, CEO, PGTI "We also thank Gujarat Tourism for coming on board as the Associate Partner for the event. The Chandigarh Golf Club has always produced fascinating finishes. We now look forward to another intense week of competition." 

Also Read : Tvesa, Diksha way down as Rashid in Top-10 at unique Mixed event in Pattaya

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Pattaya, Apr 10 (Golf News) India's Rashid Khan rounded off a satisfactory week at the USD 750,000 Trust Golf Asian Mixed Cup with a Top-10 finish as he carded 3-under 69 on the final day.

He was the best among the Indians in this unique event where men and women played together.

Among other Indian men who made the cut, Ajeetesh Sandhu (72) was T-30, while S Chikkarangappa (72) and Viraj Madappa (70) were T-39.

The two Indian women in the fray, Diksha Dagar (74) and Tvesa Malik (76), who made the cut finished T-65 and T-68 respectively.

For Rashid, this was the second Top-10 of 2022 after finishing T-6 at the Royals Cup and he was also T-23 at the DGC Open.

Ratchanon Chantananuwat, Thailand’s teenage golf sensation, claimed the USD 750,000 Trust Golf Asian Mixed Cup – to become the youngest male player to win on one of the game’s major Tours.

The 15-year-old amateur –– fired a seven-under-par 65 to finish on 20 under and beat Korean Joohyung Kim by two shots at Siam Country Club’s Waterside Course.

Kim, aged 19, returned a 64 while American lefthander Paul Peterson and Bio Kim from Korea ended third, one stroke behind after firing 68 and 69 respectively.

Ratchanon, at 15 years old and 37 days old, improved upon the previous best youngest winner mark set by Japan’s Ryo Ishikawa, who was 15 years and eight months when he won the Japan Tour's 2007 Munsingwear Open KSB Cup.

The US$750,000 tournament marked the first time the Asian Tour have staged a mixed event, as it is being jointly sanctioned with the Ladies European Tour (LET). 

Also Read : Rashid Khan top Indian in Thailand, Tvesa, Diksha are T-54 in Asian Mixed Cup

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Pattaya, Apr 9 (Golf News) Rashid Khan carded three-under 69 in the third round to continue to be the top Indian at the Trust Golf Asian Mixed Cup here on Saturday.

Khan (71-66), a two-time Asian Tour winner, is now within sniffing distance of a Top-10 finish. At tied 11th, the Indian is 10-under 206 and four shots behind Thailand's Phachara Khongwatmai (68) and Korea's Bio Kim (68) who are both on 14-under.

Among women, the two Indian stars Tvesa Malik (70) and Diksha Dagar (74) are both T-54, while another Thailand's rising female star Jaravee Boonchant (66) is at 13-under, one shot behind Phachara and Bio.

Amateur Thai Ratchanon "TK" Chantananuwat (70) and American lefthander Paul Peterson (68) are also at 13-under in tied-second overall.

The USD 750,000 tournament marks the first time the Asian Tour have staged a mixed event, as it is being jointly sanctioned with the Ladies European Tour (LET).

Rashid had a colourful card with three birdies, an eagle and two bogeys in his 69.

Among other Indian men, DGC Open runner-up Ajeetesh Sandhu carded 68 and at 9-under he was T-18, while S Chikkarangappa (69) was 7-under and T-29 and Viraj Madappa (71) was T-48.

The tight leaderboard suggests a thrilling final day on Sunday which will also be a rematch between Phachara and Bio, who played together in the final pairing of the Laguna Phuket Championship in December which the former won.

Bio Kim is looking to secure his first title on the Asian Tour. He led the Phuket event by one shot from Phachara before tying for second place.

Last season's Asian Tour Order of Merit champion Joohyung Kim from Korea carded a 69 and is 10-under, while current number one Sihwan Kim returned a 71 and is a shot further behind. 

Also Read : Chikka best Indian male and Diksha top Indian woman at Asian Mixed Cup golf

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Pattaya, Apr 7 (Golf News) Indian golfer S Chikkarangappa, looking for his maiden success on the Asian tour, opened with a solid 3-under 69 and was the best Indian at T-21 in the inaugural Trust Golf Asian Mixed Cup here on Thursday.

Also shooting a 3-under 69 was compatriot Viraj Madappa, who has one Asian Tour win to his name.

The USD 750,000 tournament marks the first time the Asian Tour has staged a mixed event, as it is being jointly sanctioned with the Ladies European Tour.

There are eight Indian men and two women, Diksha Dagar (70) at T-36 and Tvesa Malik at T-72.

The other men players are Aman Raj (70) in T-36, Rashid Khan, Shiv Kapur and SSP Chawrasia, all at T-52 with cards of 71 each.

Ajeetesh Sandhu (72) was T-77 and Gaganjeet Bhullar (74) was T-116.

Thailand’s Ratchanon Chantananuwat, the 15-year-old amateur, who could not practice much last week because he was busy with his studies, shot a nine-under-par 63 to take a share of the lead.

His round was matched by Finland’s Sanna Nuutinen, a member of the Ladies European Tour (LET), on the Waterside Course at Siam Country Club, while Thailand’s Phachara Khongwatmai and Hung Chien-yao from Chinese-Taipei carded 65s.

Thailand’s Chanettee Wannasaen and Meghan Maclaren from England are in fifth after firing 66s. 

Also Read : 13-year-old Riya Jadon wins 11th DGC Ladies Open Amateur Golf Championship

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New Delhi, Apr 7 (Golf News) Thirteen-year-old Riya Jadon won the DGC Ladies Open Amateur Golf Championship here on Thursday, following a close fight with older sister Lavanya Jadon.

Riya, who carded 78, 80 and 74, also won the junior girls trophy. Over a hundred women golfers took part in this year’s tournament, which resumed at the Delhi Golf Club after a two-year hiatus.

Speaking at the prize distribution ceremony, Anju Munjal, Vice President, Usha International said, “As part of our ethos of promoting an active and healthy lifestyle, USHA is proud to have supported golf platforms that have paved the way for juniors and amateurs as champions in the making."

Also Read : Aadil Bedi, Ankur Chadha and Hitaashee Bakshi's team crowned winners of Mixed Pro Challenge

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Gurugram, Apr 6 (Golf News) The team of Aadil Bedi, Ankur Chadha and Hitaashee Bakshi was crowned winners of the inaugural Ballantine's Golf Championship – Mixed Pro Challenge at the DLF Golf and Country Club here on Wednesday.

Aadil, Ankur and Hitaashee's (131-138) team, leaders by two shots after round one, drove home the advantage with a score of six-under 138 in the second and final round to end up with a gross score of 19-under 269 for the week to lift the trophy.

They took home the winning cheque worth Rs. 7 lakh at the 36-hole tournament, a first-of-its-kind men's and women's mixed event played in India.

Seventeen-year-old Hitaashee, playing at her home course, was the best performer for her team for the second day in succession as she followed up her 66 in round one with a 69 in round two.

The team consisting of Yuvraj Singh Sandhu, Sunit Chowrasia and Gaurika Bishnoi (133-138) finished runners-up with a gross score of 17-under 271 after firing a six-under 138 in round two.

It was a Team Strokeplay event with 18 sides participating. The total prize purse was Rs. 30 lakh. All players were to hole out on every hole. The two best scores out of three on each hole (hole by hole) were counted towards the team score.

Hitaashee, who is in the middle of her 12th class board exams, mixed six birdies with a bogey and a double-bogey on the final day. Hitaashee, who has won three events on the WGAI since turning professional in December last year, made two early birdies, sinking a 12-footer on the third and tapping-in on the fifth.

It was Aadil Bedi who gave the early breakthroughs to the winning team as he scored a chip-in birdie on the first hole followed by two more birdies on the third and fourth. Aadil, a winner on the PGTI, then conceded five bogeys to end up with a 74 in round two.

Ankur Chadha, who posted a score of 69 on day one, signed for a 78 on day two. Besides Hitaashee's 66, Ankur's 69 in round one was also crucial to the team's solid start on Tuesday.

The team of Sunit Chowrasia (74), Gaurika Bishnoi (76) and Yuvraj Singh Sandhu (81) held on to their overnight second position.

Honey Baisoya, also playing at his home course, shot the day's best individual score of 68 that played a vital role in his team finishing tied third at 16-under 272. Honey's team-mates were Mani Ram and Jahanvi Bakshi who is Hitaashee’s elder sister.

The other team that finished tied third comprised Khalin Joshi, Kartik Sharma and Oviya Reddi. 

Also Read : Hitaashee, Ankur, Aadil’s team leads on day one of Golf Championship

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Gurugram, Apr 5 (Golf News) Hitaashee Bakshi, Ankur Chadha and Aadil Bedi fired a total of 13-under 131 to take the lead on day one of the Golf Championship –- Mixed Pro Challenge -- here on Tuesday.

The first round of the 36-hole tournament, a first-of-its-kind men’s and women’s mixed event being played in India, saw 17-year-old Hitaashee make a major contribution to her team total as she fired the day’s best score of six-under 66 at her home course.

The team comprising Yuvraj Singh Sandhu, Sunit Chowrasia and Gaurika Bishnoi were in second place with a gross score of 11-under 133.

Third place was occupied by the trio of Pranavi Urs, Karandeep Kochhar and Chiragh Kumar, who had a gross score of 10-under 134.

The tournament is a Team Strokeplay event where all players must hole out on every hole. The two best scores out of three on each hole (hole by hole) would count towards the team score.

Hitaashee, who is in the middle of her class 12th Board Exams, had a horrid start as she bogeyed the first two holes after pulling her approach shots on both occasions. She then began turning it around, picking up four birdies on the front-nine thereafter including three on the trot from the seventh through the ninth.

Hitaashee then added four more birdies to her card on the back-nine courtesy three conversions from a range of eight to 12 feet and a tap-in on the 17th. She also got out of trouble on the 12th with a good par-save.

Yuvraj and Sunit had the two best scores in their team as both shot rounds of 73 to help their team end the day in second place.

Mysuru-based 18-year-old Pranavi, one of only two players to shoot an error-free round on day one, was instrumental in her team being placed third. 

Also Read : Indian golfer Anirban Lahiri finishes 13th at Texas Open

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San Antonio, Apr 4 (Golf News) Indian golfer Anirban Lahiri shot 2-under 70 in the final round to end with overall 8-under 280 and finish Tied-13th at the Valero Texas Open here.

Lahiri hit 14 of 18 greens in regulation during his final round. His 13th place finish here comes after a memorable second place at The Players Championship last month.

JJ Spaun won his maiden title and a passage to the Masters at 13 under with Matt Jones and Matt Kuchar tied for 2nd at 11-under. Troy Merritt, Adam Hadwin, Beau Hossler, and Charles Howell III were tied for 4th at 10 under.

Playing with Richard Bland and Kevin Streelman, the Indian had a bogey on the 171-yard par-3 third as his tee shot went 185 yards to the left side. His second shot went 10 yards to the fringe, and he ended with a bogey. But he fought back with birdies on sixth and eighth and turned in 1-under.

On the 403-yard par-4 sixth hole, Lahiri had a 125 yard approach shot, setting himself up for the birdie. This moved Lahiri to even for the round. After a 309 yard drive on the 604-yard par-5 eighth, Lahiri chipped his third shot to 4 feet, which he rolled for one-putt birdie on the hole.

Then on the par-4 12th, Lahiri's 106 yard approach to 7 feet set himself up for the birdie on the hole.

However, after a tee shot at the 241-yard par-3 13th green, Lahiri suffered from a tough three-putt after missing a putt from 10-feet for a par and finished with a bogey. This put Lahiri at 1 under for the round.

A birdie on 14th saw him back at 2-under, but a bogey on on 15th pulled him back. Then a birdie on 18th helped him to 70.

Spaun won his first PGA TOUR event in his 147th start. He survived a double-bogey start to his round by recording five birdies with no bogeys to finish at 13-under at TPC San Antonio. It gave him a two-shot margin over Matt Kuchar (69) and Matt Jones (66). 

Also Read : Lahiri cards 69 to give himself outside chance at Valero Texas Open; lies T-16

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San Antonio (US), Apr 3 (Golf News) Indian golfer Anirban Lahiri carded 3-under 69 in the third round to be at tied-16th and four shots behind the leaders at the Valero Texas Open here.

Lahiri, who earlier had rounds of 68 and 73, was trying to get back to full flow after being unwell last week.

The 34-year-old, who finished runner-up at THE PLAYERS Championship three weeks ago, made three birdies on his homeward nine at TPC San Antonio to sit on 6-under 210 as he chases a first PGA TOUR victory.

He was sitting at Tied-16th, up from overnight T-27.

Four players -- Brandt Snedeker (67), Beau Hossler (67), Dylan Frittelli (70) and J.J. Spaun (69) -- shared the third round lead at the USD 8.6 million tournament with three-day totals of 10-under 206.

Korea’s Si Woo Kim hit five birdies for a 68 to lie in tied seventh position, three back.

Lahiri entered the week hopeful of landing a first win, following a memorable outing at THE PLAYERS where he finished second to Cameron Smith of Australia and earned a career high USD 2.18 million.

After trading two birdies against as many bogeys on his front nine, Lahiri produced some wonderful iron play to snare birdies on the 10th, 17th and 18th holes following putts from inside of nine feet.

“It’s nice to get a couple (of birdies) in. I've just kind of struggled the last couple of days with my mental energy as I was ill all of last week," said Lahiri.

"I think yesterday on the back nine especially, I started feeling that wave of exhaustion having recovered from illness, so I think today my caddie did a great job of fuelling me and keeping my energy up and I was able to kind of push myself.” Changes made to the set-up of his irons -- he added 3.5 grams of weight to the clubheads -- since THE PLAYERS have worked like a charm as he is presently ranked inside the top-30 for 'Strokes Gained: Approach the Greens' through 54 holes. He was ranked 159th in the same category at the end of last season.

While he is four shots back with 18 holes remaining, Lahiri feels he can put in a low number on the last day to potentially challenge the leaders.

The winner of Valero Texas Open will earn an exemption into next week’s Masters Tournament, which is also on Lahiri’s mind.

“I feel like I'm playing really, really well but I just haven't played very sharp. Yesterday, I struggled a little bit on the greens and today, I didn’t quite take advantage of some of the holes that I would have liked to,” said Lahiri, who finished fifth in the event here last season.

Four players Brandt Snedeker (67), Beau Hossler (67), Dylan Frittelli (70) and JJ Spaun (69) were tied for the 54-hole lead.

Of the top 20 players on the leaderboard, only Si Woo Kim, Gary Woodland and Lucas Glover are in next week’s Masters Tournament field.

Defending champion Jordan Spieth turns in a 2-over 74, just his fifth over-par score in 25 rounds in the event.

Among the big names who missed the cut were Rory McIlroy, Bryson DeChambeau, Jason Day and Rickie Fowler. 

Also Read : Lahiri shoots 73, makes cut comfortably at Texas Open

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San Antonio (US), Apr 2 (Golf News) Indian golfer Anirban Lahiri had a modest second round of one-over 73 after a strong start on the first day but it was enough to comfortably make the cut at the Valero Texas Open here.

Lahiri (68, 73), who had a brilliant second place finish at The PLAYERS last fortnight, slipped from T-7 to T-27 after the second round.

The Indian is now three-under for 36 holes as Ryan Palmer leads at 10-under with Matt Kuchar, Dylan Frittelli, and Kevin Chappell tied for second at eight-under.

Among the notables missing the cut were Rory McIlroy, Bryson DeChambeau, Jason Day and Rickie Fowler Lahiri hit 13 of 18 greens in regulation during his second round. He began well with a birdie on the first as he drove to the left intermediate rough on the 454-yard par-4 first hole. But he chipped in his third for a birdie start.

On the 602-yard par-5 second hole, Lahiri reached the green in 3 and had a three-putt after missing a 6 feet putt he finished with a 3-putt bogey, putting him at even for the round. On the 604-yard par-5 eighth, Lahiri drove to 329-yard drive and then chipped his third shot to two feet, which he rolled for one-putt birdie on the hole.

This moved Lahiri back to one-under for the round. Lahiri gave that gain back on the 405-yard par-4 11th after hitting the green in 3 and two putting. That meant he was once even par for the round.

After a tee shot at the green on the 183-yard par-3 16th, Lahiri missed a birdie attempt from 5-feet, taking a par and ended at 1-over.

JJ Spaun, Charles Howell III, Lucas Glover, Brendon Todd, and Gary Woodland are tied for 5th at seven-under.

First-round leader Russell Knox fell to T27 following a second-round four-over 76.

Defending champion Jordan Spieth is currently T47 in bid to become the event's first repeat winner since Zach Johnson (2009).

One week before defending his 2021 Masters Tournament title, Hideki Matsuyama withdrew during round two with a neck injury. 

Also Read : Avani Prashanth makes cut at Augusta Women’s Amateur event

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Augusta (Georgia), Apr 1 (Golf News) Avani Prashanth will become the first Indian woman golfer to play a competitive round at the fabled Augusta National Golf Club after making the cut for the amateur event here.

The Indian teenager shot rounds of 76-73 in difficult conditions at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur Championship. She then waited to see if she made the cut as play on the second day was interrupted due to inclement weather.

When play ended in second round she was T-21 after 36 holes, while Indian-American Megha Ganne (73-80) missed the cut. Ganne hit headlines in US Women’s Open, where she was the top amateur after being among contenders for a while.

Lying T-26 when play was suspended after her two rounds, she had to wait overnight for others to finish to see if she would be among top-30 from a field of 72 who started at the Champions Retreat.

The Top-30 make the cut for the final round, which is to be played on Saturday at the Augusta National Golf Club, which hosts the 86th Masters next week.

When second play finally ended Avani moved up to T-21 and easily made the cut, which was a sigh of relief.

“I came here to do well and this is the first step. I have one more round at the famous Augusta and I am excited,” said Avani, who is using a caddie introduced to her by Swedish pro Henrik Norlander, a friend of Anirban Lahiri.

Avani shot 76 in the first round with three birdies against seven bogeys and was T-39. In the second round she played some great golf finishing 1-over for the day. She had three birdies and two bogeys and a double bogey.

She missed two other birdies on Hole 8 and 9. The Birdies came on first, third and fifth with the putt on first coming from 25 ft.

On Hole 3, a par 5, she hit her second shot to the green after a fantastic drive of 265 yards and she two-putted for a birdie. Hole 5 was a great approach to 8 feet and she converted it for a birdie.

She started the second round from 10th, and the bogeys came on Hole 13, a double on the 16th and a bogey on the 4th.

Her tee time for the second round was 7.30 am but finally teed off at 3 pm. It was a good end to a round that needed a lot of determination in tough conditions.

The Augusta National Women’s Amateur is a 54-hole stroke play that features 72 of the top women amateurs from around the world. 

Also Read : Kemmer wins Gurugram Challenge, Arjun Bhati finishes third

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Nuh (Haryana), Apr 1 (Golf News) American Dodge Kemmer fired a brilliant last round of six-under 66 to win the Gurugram Challenge by three shots ahead of Thailand's Chanat Sakulpolaphaisan (68), here on Friday.

Seventeen-year-old rookie Arjun Bhati, playing only his second event after turning professional, was the best-placed Indian with a third place finish. He aggregated 18-under 270 at the PGTI event.

Bhati's final round of 66, along with winner Kemmer's round, was the day's joint best score. India's Yuvraj Singh Sandhu (67) and England's Joshua Grenville-Wood (68) also took a share of fourth place. Indonesia's Rory Hie, the leader for the first three days, carded a 73 on Friday to finish tied fourth at 17-under 271.

Kemmer (67-66-66-66), shot a third straight 66, a bogey-free round, to come home the winner on the most windy day of the week. Asian Tour regular Kemmer's success ratified his decision to stay on for the event after last week’s The DGC Open presented by Mastercard, where he finished joint 49th.

"It was a great decision. I like being in India, it was an easy choice. Obviously, a win is always good and good for the confidence and gets me in a good place on the ADT list in case I need that to stay on the Asian Tour next year," he said.

Chanat Sakulpolaphaisan (66-67-67-68), who was overnight tied third, shot a flawless 68 in round four to rise one spot to second place. He chipped-in for birdie on the fifth.

Bhati (70-66-68-66) mixed seven birdies with a bogey during his 66. He began his day with a 30-feet birdie conversion on the first hole that set up the round for him.

"I'm very proud of my effort this week. Scoring 18-under is a huge confidence-booster for me. It's a dream start to my career. I putted really well this week," Bhati said. 

Also Read : Solid finish sees Lahiri card 68, Indian lying seventh in Texas Open

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San Antonio (US), Apr 1 (Golf News) India's Anirban Lahiri overcame a sluggish start to fire a solid 4-under 68 and lie three strokes off the early first round lead at the Valero Texas Open here.

Lahiri, who was the runner-up in a dramatic finish at THE PLAYERS Championship three weeks ago, was 1-over through 10 holes at TPC San Antonio before coming home with five birdies, thanks largely to a hot putter.

Scotland's Russell Knox opened with a 65 to lead the USD 8.6 million PGA TOUR event.

The 34-year-old Lahiri is attempting to win a first career title in the US after coming agonisingly close at the TOUR's flagship tournament at TPC Sawgrass, and victory on Sunday would also secure a spot in next week's Masters Tournament.

"Today was about trying to find the same kind of rhythm to my routine, rhythm to how I was swinging the club.

"The body still feels a bit rusty. When I started, it was a bit cold and there was bit of moisture on the surface and I was trying to get a good feel and speed of the greens," said Lahiri on Thursday.

"I definitely wanted to get back into my rhythm after being away and battling an infection I picked up from my daughter. I was laid off in bed for a few days and didn't play that much golf but I didn't really hit a lot of bad shots." Starting from the 10th, Lahiri navigated his opening 10 holes with two bogeys against a lone birdie before his putter started to find its range.

He rolled in a nine-footer on the second, a 23-footer on the fifth and then nailed three successive birdies from nine, 18 and 30 feet respectively to close out his round in style.

"On the back nine, I found the speed of the greens. I've played this course quite a bit and I understand the nature of this course.

"You try to just put yourself in good positions and places where you can make aggressive swings and aggressive putts. If you can do that, you can make a couple of birdies.

"The putter got a little warmer and it was a nice bonus on the last to get a long one which feels really good," said Lahiri, who finished solo fifth at TPC San Antonio last season.

Despite his stellar finish at THE PLAYERS, Lahiri intends to keep his foot on the pedal a bid to regain his place among golf's elite. He was ranked as high as 33rd on the Official World Golf Ranking in 2015 and featured in the Presidents Cup twice for the International Team.

"THE PLAYERS Championship was fantastic and it's in the past now. It's time to move on and try to be in the present which was pretty much what I did.

"I'm just trying to do the same, stay in the present, stay in the now, do what I need to do, what I need to feel, what I need to work on. I'm just trying to get back to that and it's nice to see my golf responding," said Lahiri.

South Korea's Si Woo Kim and CT Pan of Chinese Taipei got off to good starts at the Valero Texas Open with matching 69s.

Despite missing six greens in regulation, Pan, who is a one-time TOUR winner, kept the bogeys off his card while Kim posted five birdies against two bogeys.

Japanese star Hideki Matsuyama, who will defend his Masters title next week, opened with a 74 in what is his first appearance since withdrawing from THE PLAYERS Championship due to a back injury. 

Also Read : Indian quartet lies tied 3rd after first round of Gurugram Challenge Golf

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Nuh (Haryana), Mar 29 (Golf News) The Indian quartet of Amrit Lal Lubana, Tapy Ghai, Shamim Khan and Rajiv Kumar Jatiwal shot an impressive 66 to be placed tied third after the opening round of Gurugram Challenge TATA Steel PGTI-ADT golf tournament here on Tuesday.

The Indians were tied alongside Thailand's Chanat Sakulpolaphaisan.

Indonesia's Rory Hie returned to his happy hunting ground with a stunning nine-under 63 to take a two-shot lead at the Classic Golf & Country Club.

Rory, who won his only Asian Tour title at the Classic Golf & Country Club in 2019, posted a flawless round, which also featured birdies on the last three holes.

Ira Alido of the Philippines fired a 65 to be placed second at the event co-sanctioned by the PGTI and the Asian Development Tour (ADT).

Rory was off to a solid start in round one with three birdies on the front nine. The 33-year-old consistently landed it within 10 feet of the flag and then added three more birdies between the 10th and 13th.

Rory signed off with a late flurry, sinking birdies on the last three holes. A great tee shot on the 16th set up an easy second shot and a subsequent short putt for him.

Rory then chipped in from an awkward position on the 17th before closing with a quality chip-putt on the 18th.

Rookie Ira's 65 was also a bogey-free round. Ira hit his wedges well as he chipped in on the 12th and landed most other shots within a range of six feet of the flag.

Tapy Ghai, playing at his home course, had a run of five consecutive birdies from the third to the seventh. He then had a double-bogey on the 12th but bounced back well with two birdies thereafter.

Amrit went error-free during his 66. He made a couple of good par saves from the bunker on the second and third.

Shamim Khan's round featured an eagle on the closing 18th along with five birdies and a bogey. Rajiv came up with eight birdies and two bogeys.

India's Rashid Khan, one of the pre-event favourites, carded a 67 to be tied eighth. 

Also Read : Resurgent Lahiri eyes title at Valero Texas Open with Masters in mind

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New Delhi, Mar 29 (Cricket News) Sachin Tendulkar has paid rich tribute to the late Shane Warne, calling him a "fierce competitor", against whom he always had to prepare differently as the Australian spin legend was good in playing mind games and gave nothing away with his body language.

One of the all-time greats of the game, Warne died at the age of 52 due to a suspected heart attack in Thailand on March 4.

"My first proper series against Shane Warne was in 1998 in India and everyone tagged that series as Tendulkar versus Shane Warne clash. And to remind people that it's not Tendulkar versus Shane but it is India vs. Australia. But such was the following," Tendulkar said.

"That kind of following is going to put you under pressure. When you are playing a world class bowler like him, you just can't turn up and hope that things are going to be okay.

"So I had to prepare properly, not just out being there at the nets but when you're sitting in the room, you have to be a step ahead of him, what he would be thinking because he was extremely good in putting pressure and playing mind games and trying to plan your dismissal." Tendulkar had many fierce battles with Warne and the 1998 series in India will remain a part of cricketing folklore.

"It didn't matter, you looked at his body language. One didn't know whether Warne had picked up four wickets, five wickets or he was bowling wicketless. Every delivery that he bowled, he was a fierce competitor.

"So even if you're facing the second last over of the day, one had to keep their eyes open, because he was always up to something and trying to figure out how could he dismissed." Tendulkar said "there were number of good spinners, but Shane was different".

"One of those very few bowlers against whom you couldn't hit the ball on the rise. He was someone if you did not get to the pitch of the ball, there was no way one was expected to go and drive on the rise," he said.

"That was his class the way he got the ball to drift and that can only happen if you have strong shoulders and you're giving it a rip, the ball drifts down the leg and then spinning away from you.

"I had to also practice because till then nobody had bowled round the wicket in the rough, trying to get you out. It was usually bowled to keep things under control. If the batter was scoring runs, to kind of slow him down.

"But Shane was actually looking to get the batter out, so one had to prepare the defensive and attacking options." West Indies batting great Brain Lara also hailed Warne as the "most potent player" for Australia, who sealed his place "in the upper echelons of world cricket" with his performances in the Ashes series, which included the ball of the century that he bowled to England's Mike Gatting in 1993.

"I grew up in a country where spin bowling dominated. The lower part of the Caribbean, Trinidad, Guyana, we played spin very well. And Warne posed a lot of trouble for a lot of other players. I found myself winning a lot of those battles, but he never gave up," he said.

"He always produced that miracle delivery the one that you didn't know was coming. So I always had my eyes open for Warne throughout my career. He was just a tremendous bowler, bowling in an attack which had awesome fast bowlers." Condoling his death, Lara said: "He was huge, such a legend, such a king, someone who I felt was, you know, gigantic when it comes in the world of sport, and it's unfortunate what has happened, it's very sad. He has a very young families, his parents still alive. It's a weird feeling that he's gone..." Remembering his last meeting with Warne in 2021, Tendulkar said: "After the last IPL, I went to spend some time in London where we got in touch. There was never a dull moment. He was full of entertainment, full of jokes and you know those battles those mini competitions.

"I realised that it was not just about spin, the swing also came naturally to him. He was a good golfer. I hate saying he was a good golfer because it's hard to accept what has happened and for us he will continue to live in our hearts.

"...He had this tremendous attitude towards life. Always positive and always welcoming. It's really hard to accept that he is no more among us..." 

Also Read : Would be very emotional thinking about de Villiers if we win IPL: Kohli

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San Antonio (US), Mar 29 (Golf News) Bolstered by a career-best runner-up finish at THE PLAYERS Championship, a buoyant Anirban Lahiri will now tee up at the Valero Texas Open, eyeing a victory to earn a coveted place in the Masters Tournament.

Lahiri enjoyed his best finish in the PGA Tour at THE PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass two weeks ago and the Indian is determined to build on his resurgence at the TPC San Antonio which hosts this week's USD 8.6 million tournament starting on Thursday.

"Who doesn't think about the Masters? We all do," said Lahiri. "I understand I'm going to need a win, just like everyone else who are not already in Augusta will be hoping to do so." The Masters Tournament, the year's first major, begins at Augusta National Golf Club next week with Japan's Hideki Matsuyama defending his title. The winner in Texas, who is not otherwise exempt, will receive the final spot in the Masters field.

The Indian golfer has featured twice at Augusta National, finishing T49 and T42 in 2015 and 2016 respectively and those were the years when Lahiri felt he was playing some of his best golf.

The 34-year-old was back to his old self a fortnight ago when he led into the final round at THE PLAYERS before finishing second to Australia's Cameron Smith which saw him earn a career high USD 2.18 million.

"I'm looking forward to going back out. I've watched a lot of the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play (last week), a lot of friends battling it out and it makes me want to go out and play golf. I’m excited," said Lahiri.

"I've had a nice 10 days off at home but we had a few struggles. My little daughter picked up a little infection and we have all been fighting a bit of a cough and cold but we’re towards the end of it." Interestingly, Lahiri's return to form was largely due to him adding 3.5 grams of weight to his irons which has since resulted him in free-wheeling his way around the golf course.

"Equipment wise, I'm all sorted and just trying to build on it. Just the fact that I have what I need to play well, and I can trust myself a little more, I can stop trying harder and kind of let it happen just like I did a couple of weeks ago.

"In terms of the process of letting go and just playing, THE PLAYERS was an important week to me," said Lahiri, who is currently ranked 45th on the FedExCup standings.

A return to the Valero Texas Open will also give him a lot of confidence as he finished fifth in the event last year.

"I have good memories from last year as Valero was one of my standout events and I played really well, really consistently. It's a tough golf course especially when it's windy. It can get firm and fast and it's another course that you need to drive it good.

"Strategically, you need to be very sound in how you navigate the golf course as there is a lot of trouble. I think that works to my advantage as strategically, I have a good game plan. It comes down to the execution and putting it in play." 

Also Read : DGC Open: Sandhu loses in play-off, finishes second; Nitithorn wins maiden Asian Tour title

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New Delhi, Mar 27 (Golf News) Indian golfer Ajeetesh Sandhu came agonisingly close to winning the inaugural DGC Open before going down in the play-offs as Thailand's Nitithorn Thippong claimed his maiden Asian Tour title in a compelling finish here on Sunday.

Sandhu (71) and Nitithorn (73) produced a birdie each in the 18th hole to finish seven under after four rounds, forcing a play-off.

Nitithorn, the overnight leader by two shots, then made a brilliant birdie on the first play-off hole -- par-five 18th, while Sandhu holed out for par to miss out in the end.

"It was a good week. Looking back, I'll definitely take a lot from it. It was disappointing how it finished but that's golf. You always have to keep coming back from disasters. No regrets because while competing you’re always trying your best," said Sandhu.

"In hindsight, I would say on the 17th I tried to hit a shot which was not a high percentage one. I tried to move it with the wind to go into the flag but just didn’t make a good swing." Thailand's Settee Prakongvech ended one shot short of the play-off after returning 71 to finish outright third for his best Asian Tour result, while Gaganjeet Bhullar from India carded 72 to claim sole fourth, two strokes further back.

Nitithorn lived up to his nickname "Fever" by raising the temperature of his game on the famous 18th at the DGC.

Tied with playing-partner Sandhu on the last in normal time, he holed a 10-footer for birdie which forced his Indian opponent to make his four from five feet to send the tournament into overtime.

The 25-year-old Thai golfer then reached the green with two fine shots in the play-off, leaving himself a 15-foot eagle putt, while Sandhu found the putting surface in three, having landed in trouble off the tee. After Sandhu missed his birdie attempt from 18 feet, Nitithorn triumphantly two-putted to earn a cheque for USD 90,000.

"I can't describe my feeling right now. To win on the Asian Tour I have been waiting for this for a long time," said Nitithorn, a professional since 2015.

His biggest win to date had been the 2018 PGM Penang Championship on the Asian Development Tour in 2018.

"I cannot describe my feelings, it is incredible, it’s amazing. I didn't putt so good today. I just tried to hit it on the green and make the putts, but I couldn't make them," he said.

"On the 14th, where I made bogey, I was so nervous there, but I did not lose my mind. I just focused on everything that I can, and just play. In the play off I wasn’t as nervous as in normal time. I felt more free and so comfortable." The tournament developed into a classic two-horse race with Nitithorn appearing to be on course for victory after staying two ahead after nine, before he made bogey on 10, 14 and 16.

Birdies on 13 and 14 meant Sandhu was two ahead with two to go but to the shock of the strong local support, the Indian golfer pushed his tee shot right on the par-three 17th, lost his ball, and ended up making a double bogey while Nitithorn made par to draw level and set up the dramatic finish on 18.

Justin Quiban from the Philippines produced his joint best finish on the Asian Tour when he was fifth on three under after shooting a 70.

India's Shiv Kapur, a four-time winner on the Asian Tour, carded a 68 and was in a group of players who finished a stroke further back in joint sixth.

The next event on the Asian Tour is the Trust Golf Asian Mixed Cup at Siam Country Club in Thailand from April 7 to 10. 

Also Read : Tvesa and Amandeep make the cut at Joburg Ladies Open golf

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Johannesburg, Mar 26 (Golf News) Indian golfer Tvesa Malik went one shot better than her first round with an even par 73 to make the cut at the Joburg Ladies Open here.

Tvesa was one of the only two Indians to make the cut as she was 1-over 147 and in Tied-16th place.

The other Indian to make the cut was Amandeep Drall (78-73) who fought back well after a disappointing first round.

Amandeep, a multiple winner on the domestic Tour in India, is now Tied-48th.

The other Indians in the field, Vani Kapoor (76-78), Diksha Dagar (79-77) and Siddhi Kapoor (84-78) missed the cut, which fell at 7-over.

Tvesa had one birdie and one bogey on either side of the course.

Maria Hernandez and LET rookie Linn Grant are tied at the top heading into the final day at the Par-73.

Overnight leader Hernandez produced a steadier second round, with three birdies and two bogeys enough to come home in 72 (-1) and keep her name at the top of the leader board heading into the weekend.

Meanwhile, Grant recovered admirably from a bogey and double bogey on the third and fourth respectively to pull herself back up the leader board throughout the day, having birdied the first.

Alice Hewson and Kim Metraux are hot on the heels of the leading duo heading into the final 18 holes, as the English star picked up four shots on the front nine, before a solitary bogey on the tenth saw her finish three shots to the good for her day’s play and just a shot behind the leading pair. 

Also Read : Indian Golfer Shubhankar Sharma slips to T-10 in Qatar Masters

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Doha, Mar 25 (Golf News) India's Shubhankar Sharma, who was bogey free on the first day, witnessed an up-and-down outing in round two as he shot one-over 73 to slip to tied-10th from second position at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters at the Doha Golf Club here on Friday.

Sharma was three-over at one stage with bogeys on eighth, 13th and 14th, but birdies on 15th and 16th helped him recover to some extent.

Pablo Larrazabal displayed a superb back nine fightback to retain the lead at the halfway stage.

The Spaniard leads by one on nine-under par after posting a one-under par round of 71 on day two, but the 38-year-old's second round was truly a tale of two nines.

The overnight leader made the turn at four-over par following a double bogey on the par five ninth, but immediately responded with an eagle at the tenth.

Three additional birdies put the finishing touches to a five-under par back nine to complete a return to the top of the leader board on a windy day here.

The six-time DP World Tour winner is closely followed by Chase Hanna of the United States, Poland's Adrian Meronk and South African Wilco Nienaber, who all share the second place on eight-under par, with Romain Langasque of France a shot further back on seven-under par.

Scotland's Ewen Ferguson, English duo of Daniel Gavins and Matthew Jordan, and Austrian Lukas Nemecz share the sixth place on six-under par, while Sweden's Marcus Kinhult, whose seven-under par round of 65 was the lowest round of the day, is part of the group in a tie for the 10th spot at five-under par. 

Also Read : Ahlawat, Sandhu occupy top-2 spots at midway stage of DGC Open

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New Delhi, Mar 25 (Golf News) Veer Ahlawat and Ajeetesh Sandhu played bogey-free rounds of 67 and 68 to take the first and second positions respectively at the midway stage of The DGC Open golf tournament here on Friday.

Ahlawat, looking for his maiden win on the Asian Tour, is nine-under and two clear of Sandhu, who is looking to add to the lone Asian Tour win he had in Chinese Taipei in 2017.

The Gurgaon-based Ahlawat was leading the pack at nine-under par 135 (68-67) and Ajeetesh Sandhu (67-68) climbed into the sole second place at 137.

Gaganjeet Bhullar played his best-ever round at the DGC with a six-under 66 that included five birdies in a row from 13th to 18th after starting on the 10th.

Lying in sole third was Thailand's Nitithorn Thippong (68-70) at six-under 138.

Bhullar (73-66) was tied-fourth with two other Thailand golfers in Chanat Sakulpolphaisan and Kasidit Lepkurte as the top six at the USD 500,000 Asian Tour event had three Indians and three Thais.

Sandhu was one of the few to buck the trend of the morning starters dominating the leaderboard with his bogey-free round late in the afternoon. He needed a small slice of luck with a tricky third shot over the greenside bunker on the ninth hole and an up-and-down to keep a clean card.

Ahlawat, who has been looking good on the domestic Tour and also had a good showing when the Asian Tour resumed action, said, "My swing is feeling pretty good so I was confident that if I keep hitting it in the fairway, I'm going to hit good second shots." "That was my plan for today. Just keep it in play - you don't have to get long off the tee, just keep it in play. I started pretty good on the back nine and kept sticking it really close and made five birdies.

"On the front nine, I missed a chip-putt on the first for birdie and after that, I did hit it pretty close. I did save a few par putts like on the seventh where I holed a six-footer and then on the last hole I made a 15-footer for par." Sandhu felt he had left a few shots out on the course but was satisfied with his effort overall.

"I'm happy but I think there were a lot of missed opportunities again, but that's OK. It was tough with the wind. I think you really had be patient, but the greens are excellent. If you miss a putt, you can't really complain about the surface, it's your fault. The course is playing fantastic." Bhullar went on a tear towards the end of his outbound nine, rolling in five birdies in a row after a bogey-birdie swap to turn in five-under 31. He then picked up two further shots but gave one back in a six-under 66 card for the day.

Shiv Kapur survived a difficult second day to sit on level par 144 (71-73) in a tie for 22nd place after coming back from four-over through 10 holes to one-over for the round.

Overnight joint leader Shankar Das was down in shared 12th place at three-under 141 (67-74) after a difficult second day. Australian Travis Smyth struggled in the tougher afternoon conditions as he slipped into a tie for seventh place on four-under 140 (67-73).

Making the cut, which came at five-over par 149, were Indian golf legend Jeev Milkha Singh, former Indian Open winners SSP Chawrasia, Siddikur Rahman of Bangladesh and South Africa's Ian Snyman in the 138-strong field.

In all, 67 professionals went through to the money rounds in an event that has seen scores on the higher side on the first two days. None of the amateurs made the cut. 

Also Read : Hitaashee wins sixth leg of Hero WPGT with a stunning 12-under total

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Gurugram, Mar 25 (Golf News) Hitaashee Bakshi became the second player to win multiple titles this season as she claimed the sixth leg of the 2022 Hero Women's Pro Golf Tour at the Golden Greens Golf & Resorts here on Friday.

Following up on her brilliant second round 65, Hitaashee added a solid three-under 69 to emerge a comfortable winner.

Hitaashee's sister, Jahanvi produced the best round of the final day with a bogey free six-under 66 that included three successive birdies at the end to claim the runner-up position.

Hitaashee, who also won the third leg of the Tour, aggregated 12-under 204, the lowest winning total this year.

Jahanvi was second at eight-under 208. She also was the top pro in the second leg but was overall second to amateur Sneha Singh.

While the Bakshi sisters finished 1-2, Gaurika Bishnoi, who set the trend for low scoring this week with 65 on the first day, faltered in the final round with a 74 that included three closing bogeys.

She was third at six-under 210, in a tournament where seven players finished under par and another two players were par for the week. That meant the top-10 were par or better for the week, setting a very good standard.

Hitaashee, who led Gaurika by one shot after two rounds, birdied third and fifth, while Gaurika bogeyed second, birdied fifth but dropped shots on sixth, seventh and eighth to fall way behind.

On the back nine, Hitaashee birdied 11th, 15th and 17th but dropped shots on 14th and 17th.

However, that was more than enough as Gaurika, despite one birdie and no bogeys on the back nine, was unable to make up lost ground.

Jahanvi, who was seven shots behind her sister Hitaashee after two rounds, was left four behind despite the 66.

Amateur Heena Kang (70), who finished as best amateur, Ridhima Dilawari (68) and Pranavi Urs (71) were tied for fourth at three-under 213.

Afshan Fatima (69) was seventh, while Neha Tripathi (73), with an eagle and a double bogey, was eighth.

Shewta Mansingh (71) and Durga Nittur (76) were tied-ninth at even par 216.

Pranavi Urs continued to stay on top of the Hero Order of Merit but now Hitaashee is less than Rs 26,000 behind her.

Both have played all six events this season and won twice each. Jahanvi Bakshi is third, while Gaurika Bishnoi and Ridhima Dilawari are fourth and fifth respectively. 

Also Read : Golfer Tvesa Malik top Indian at T-20 in Joburg Ladies Open

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Johannesburg, Mar 25 (Golf News) Tvesa Malik landed an eagle on her second nine in an even par 73 second round that positioned her Tied-20th in Joburg Ladies Open, here.

Tvesa was the best-placed Indian in the large six-member contingent from India.

Vani Kapoor, who seems to have taken a liking for South Africa after a series of decent results earlier in the season, shot 3-over 76 and was T-42, while Amandeep Drall (78) was T-68.

Diksha Dagar, who won the South African Women’s Open in 2019, shot 79 and was T-79 while Siddhi Kapoor struggled to 84 and was way behind at T-123rd.

Tvesa, who missed the cut in her first start of the season in Saudi Ladies International last week, played in the afternoon when the wind was up.

She started from the 10th and was one-over for the first nine, which was the back nine of the course.

Another bogey on the third put her at 2-over before she eagled the Par-5 fifth. A bogey on 16th meant she ended at even par 73.

The 36-year-old Maria Hernandez gave herself the perfect birthday present with a two-shot lead in the opening round.

The Spaniard made the most of an early start and the tranquil conditions to fire a four-under-par 69 that featured five birdies to set the early clubhouse lead that went unchallenged.

Alexandra Swayne from the US Virgin Islands, Germany's Luisa Dittrich, Smilla Soenderby from Denmark and Italy's Virginia Carte tied for second on two-under.

South Africans Nicole Garcia and Ivanna Samu finished a further stroke back in a tie for eighth.

Sweden's Linn Grant – a two-time winner on the Sunshine Ladies Tour this season and the current Investec Order of Merit Leader – and 2020 Investec South African Women's Open champion Alice Hewston from England are also at one-under alongside Manon De Roey from Belgium, Finland’s Noora Komulainen and Frenchwoman Emma Grechi. 

Also Read : Hitaashee Bakshi cards 7-under 65, moves into lead at 6th leg of Hero WPGT

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Gurugram, Mar 24 (Golf News) Hitaashee Bakshi became the second player in two days to shoot a bogey-free seven-under 65 to move into a one-shot lead after the second round of the sixth leg of the Hero Women's Pro Golf Tour here on Thursday.

Bakshi, who has one win against her name this season, equalled the first round score of 65 by Gaurika Bishnoi, whose second round 71 saw her slip to the second place.

Bakshi's 65 was flawless too, just as Gaurika's in the first round.

After the second round, Bakshi leads at nine-under 135 with Gaurika is at eight-under 136.

Bakshi hit a purple patch around the middle of her outing. After seven pars to start the day, she fired six birdies in seven holes between eighth and 14th. She also birdied the 18th. Gaurika had three birdies against two bogeys.

Bengaluru golfer Durga Nittur, who turns 20 in May, put herself in a fine position at third with rounds of 69-71. She is four-under 140.

Durga started the day with a bogey and then parred all the way till the 10th before she found her first birdie on 11th and added a second on 18th.

Neha Tripathi (72), Pranavi Urs (73), a multiple winner this season, and Jahanvi Bakshi (74) are all tied-fourth at 142 with amateur Heena Kang (69) and Nayanika Sanga (74) tied-sixth at one-under 143.

Nayanika also holed one of the two eagles of the day, when she registered a three on the Par-5 18th.

The other eagle of the day came from Shweta Mansingh (72), who was tied ninth alongside Afshan Fatima (70), Ridhima Dilawari (74) and Lakhmehar Pardesi (75).

The cut was applied at 12-over and 25 players, including four amateurs, made the cut.

Also Read : Amandeep Drall looks for an encore at sixth leg of Hero WPGT

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Gurugram, Mar 22 (Golf News) Amandeep Drall, winner of the fifth leg last week, returns for the sixth leg of the Hero Women's Pro Golf Tour at the Golden Greens Golf & Resorts Ltd. here on Wednesday hoping for an encore.

Amandeep, who is planning to play on the Ladies European Tour over the next few weeks, will face a strong challenge from Pranavi Urs, who has already won twice this season.

A total of 32 players will play for a purse of Rs. 11 lakhs and the field also includes six amateurs.

Of the four players who won the five previous events, amateur Sneha Singh is not playing, while Pranavi (two wins), Hitaashee Bakshi and Amandeep are back in the field for the week at Golden Greens.

While Tvesa Malik, Diksha Dagar and Vani Kapoor are missing this week, the other major contenders include Jahanvi Bakshi, Gaurika Bishnoi, Ridhima Dilawari, Seher Atwal and Lakhmehar Pardesi, all of whom have won on the Tour in the past.

Pranavi leads the Hero Order of Merit, while Jahanvi Bakshi and Gaurika Bishnoi are second and third, with Hitaashee Bakshi and Ridhima Dilawari occupying the fourth and fifth places. 

Also Read : Sharma shoots under par in both rounds but still misses cut

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Johannesburg, Mar 19 (Golf News) India's Shubhankar Sharma missed the cut by one shot at the Steyn City Golf Championship, despite producing sub-par cards in the first two rounds here.

Sharma, who shot 69 in the first round, scored 71 in the second and despite being 4-under, he missed the cut by one shot.

It was especially disappointing for the 25-year-old, who had made the cut in each of five starts before this –- four on the DP World Tour and one on the Asian Tour.

He came close to winning his first Rolex Series event, when he finished second at the Abu Dhabi Championship.

Sharma, starting on 10th, double bogeyed the 11th and then had seven birdies and two bogeys, but a late double on eighth, his 17th hole, pushed him to the wrong side of the cut line.

Sharma will be back in action at the USD 2 million Qatar Masters next week.

Meanwhile, South African Shaun Norrish picked up four shots in his last four holes as he came home in 30 and carded the lowest round of his DP World Tour career. The 62 coming on top of a 64 put him at 18-under and he leads by three over countryman, James Hart Du Preez.

His 18 under par 36-hole total matches the record of countryman Ernie Els at the 2004 Heineken Classic but, with preferred lies in place after heavy rain earlier in the week at The Club at Steyn City, Norris will not enter the history books alongside the four-time Major Championship winner.

Home favourite Dean Burmester was third at 13-under.

A truly international player, Norris spent three months on the Japan Golf Tour between August and November last year but he made the most of the trip, winning the Japan Open Golf Championship for his sixth win in Japan to go with another win on the Asian Tour and two on the Sunshine Tour.

On his return, he finished third at the Joburg Open and has since also secured a top ten at the Ras al Khaimah Championship presented by Phoenix Capital to sit 51st in the DP World Tour Rankings in Partnership with Rolex. 

Also Read : Rough start for Tvesa, Diksha in strong windy conditions in Saudi

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Kaec, Mar 18 (Golf News) Tough conditions throughout the day took a toll as the Indian duo of Tvesa Mailk and Diksha Dagar shot 7-over 79 and 9-over 81 respectively in the opening round of the Ladies European Tour's Aramco Saudi Ladies International here on Friday.

Strong winds from the Red Sea adjoining the Royal Greens Golf and Country Club created a lot of trouble for the Indian duo as neither Tvesa nor Diksha had the best of starts in the tournament presented by Public Investment Fund.

Tvesa, who had a great 2021, had a rather rough back nine of 7-over 36 following an even par front nine, while Diksha had 38-43 in the two nines.

Both will need very strong second rounds to make the cut.

England's Georgia Hall and Germany's Sophie Witt fired rounds of 69 (-3) to be tied at the top of the leaderboard.

The wind was a big factor on day one but the morning starters had the better of the conditions with stronger gusts of up to 60 km/h in the afternoon.

One golfer who made light of the conditions later in the day was Major winner Hall, as she was the only player who was able to maintain her challenge at the summit when the wind picked up.

Three consecutive birdies on holes two through four and another on the ninth saw the Englishwoman make the turn in 32 (-4).

In her next eight holes, Hall rolled in three pars, three birdies and two bogeys before finding the water on 18, but a double bogey on the last ensured the two-time Solheim Cup winner was still tied at the top alongside Witt.

Three players are in a share of third place on two-under-par with American duo Angel Yin and Lindsey Weaver-Wright alongside Sweden’s Anna Nordqvist.

Five players sit in a tie for sixth place on one-under-par including French rookie Charlotte Liautier, who made a hole-in-one on the par-three eighth.

The Frenchwoman rounds out the top ten alongside Sweden’s Johanna Gustavsson, Dutch star Anne Van Dam, Germany’s Chiara Noja and Wales’ Chloe Williams. 

Also Read : Yuvraj registers lowest total at Tollygunge, climbs to second on the PGTI Order of Merit

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Kolkata, Mar 18 (Golf News) Yuvraj Singh Sandhu produced a gritty final round score of four-under 66 to record the lowest winning total of 21-under 259 in the TATA Steel PGTI Players Championship 2022 here on Friday.

Twenty-five-year-old Yuvraj made a final flourish with an eagle-two on the 16th and a 35-feet birdie conversion on the 18th that helped him to prevail in a thriller and earn his second title.

Chandigarh-based Yuvraj (67-65-61-66), the third round leader by three shots, was given a scare by Kolkata’s Viraj Madappa (64-70-62-64), who shot the day's joint best score of 64, before he finished runner-up at 20-under 260.

Yuvraj's victory, his second in four months, lifted him from 23rd to second place in the PGTI Order of Merit after he picked up the winning cheque worth Rs 8,08,250.

Rahil Gangjee, originally from Kolkata now based in Bengaluru, secured the third place at 17-under 263 following his final round of 66.

Twenty-four-year-old Viraj Madappa, who was overnight tied second and three off the lead, had turned the tables early on Friday with six birdies over the first 13 holes with all aspects of his game coming together.

At that stage, Madappa, a winner on the Asian Tour, enjoyed a three-shot lead over Yuvraj.

After Viraj dropped a bogey on the 14th and both he and Yuvraj picked up birdies on the 15th, there was a momentum shift back in favour of Yuvraj.

Yuvraj came up with an incredible approach shot from 99 yards on the 16th that found the hole for an eagle and brought him on level terms with Madappa.

Yuvraj finally nailed an unbelievable 27-feet birdie putt on the 18th to get over the line and break the record for the lowest winning total at Tollygunge Club previously standing at 18-under 262, which was jointly held by Md Zamal Hossain Mollah (Bengal Open 2019) and Anirban Lahiri (PGTI Players Championship 2011).

Rashid Khan and Shamim Khan were tied fourth at 16-under 264.

Kolkata's SSP Chawrasia finished tied ninth at 11-under 269, while Indian golf legend Jeev Milkha Singh ended tied 17th at eight-under 272. 

Also Read : Amandeep keeps Pranavi at bay to win 5th leg of Hero WPGT

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Gurugram, Mar 17 (Golf News) Riding on her back nine, Amandeep Drall carded a three-under 69 in the final round to emerge champions in the fifth leg of the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour here on Thursday.

Even as Pranavi, who has won twice this season, turned in the week’s best round of a bogey-free 67, Amandeep (69) drilled four birdies against one bogey to coast to a comfortable 2-shot win and take her first title of the season.

Amandeep had three birdies and three bogeys on the front nine and overall, she had as many as seven birdies against four bogeys for a creditable 69.

Amandeep aggregated 1-under 215 during her wire-to-wire win and was the only player in the field to finish with under par total.

Pranavi, who had 75-75 on the first two days, was in great form with five birdies and no bogeys in her 67.

Jahanvi Bakshi, who was in the fray till the end of the front nine, put herself out of reckoning with four bogeys against two birdies on the back nine in her card of 73, and finished third at 4-over 220.

Gaurika Bishnoi (71), after an early birdie on second, had a hat-trick of birdies at the end of the front nine, but she also gave away a double bogey and another bogey. She was fourth, while Hitaashee Bakshi (72) was fifth after two birdies and two bogeys on the final day.

After two tough days with 78-79, Vani Kapoor shot 1-under 71, which was one of the four under-par scores of the day. She finished sixth.

Amateur Nishna Patel (75), Neha Tripathi (76) and Astha Madan (78) were Tied-ninth while Saaniya Sharma and Trimann Saluja were Tied-10th. Ridhima Dilawari was 12th.

Pranavi stayed on top of the Hero Order of Merit with Rs.4,88,500, Jahanvi was second with Rs.4,18,000 and Gaurika Bishnoi (Rs.4,02,000) was third. 

Also Read : A happy Lahiri has lots on his plate but he is not complaining

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