Marbella (Spain), Nov 28 (Golf news) India's Aditi Ashok and Tvesa Malik made noticeable upward movements to be placed tied 14th and tied 36th respectively after the third round of the Andalucía Costa del Sol Open de España golf tournament here.

Aditi shot one-under 71 while Tvesa carded two-under 70 in the third round.

Home favourite Carlota Ciganda continued her good form and leads by three shots heading into the final day.

After rounds of 70 and 66 on the first two days, the Spaniard produced a round of 70 (-2) to move to a total of 10-under-par at Los Naranjos Golf Club.

Aditi had one birdie and one bogey on the front nine and a bogey on 10th. She birdied 15th and 17th for 71.

Tvesa had one bogey on the front nine but birdied three times in last holes on the back nine for her 70.

Ciganda got off to a blistering start with three birdies in her opening four holes but she followed that with three bogeys and made the turn in 36.

Three birdies and one bogey on the back nine ensured the four-time LET winner remained at the summit of the leaderboard.

Ciganda will play alongside 2021 Race to Costa del Sol Champion Atthaya Thitikul in the final round with the teenager moving up to second place.

Thitikul carded the round of the day, a 67 (-5), rolling in six birdies and one bogey to climb up the leaderboard and sit three shots behind Ciganda on seven-under-par.

Sweden's Maja Stark and Finland's Ursula Wikstrom sit next on the leaderboard in a share of third place on five-under-par.

Spain's Fatima Fernandez Cano sits in solo fifth place on four-under-par -- six shots back from compatriot Ciganda after a round of 75.

Also Read : Shiv Kapur, Veer Ahlawat lie Tied-9th in Phuket

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Phuket, Nov 27 (Golf news) India's Shiv Kapur flew on the wings of a fine eagle and two birdies against two bogeys for a five-under 67 that carried him into the Top-10 at the Blue Canyon Phuket Championship here on Saturday.

He was Tied-9th, the same as young Veer Ahlawat, who also had an eagle – though on Par-5 15th as against Kapur's eagle on Par-5 ninth.

Veer also had five birdies and two bogeys and moved up to nine-under.

Chinese-Taipei's Chan Shih-chang put himself into position to move to 14-under after a round of 68 as did Sihwan Kim.

They both carded four-under-par 68s on the Canyon Course at Blue Canyon Country Club to move to 14 under par for the USD 1 million event, that marks the resumption of the Asian Tour following a 20-month break caused by COVID-19.

Of the other Indians, Karandeep Kochhar (69) was eight-under and Tied-13th, while Aadil Bedi (71) was T-40, S Chikkarangappa (73) was T-50, Ajeetesh Sandhu and Viraj Madappa were T-60th, Khalin Joshi was T-67th and veteran Jeev Milkha Singh and Aman Raj were T-71.

Overnight leader Sadom Kaewkanjana from Thailand shot 72 to lie in third place two behind, while a further shot back are Australian Scott Hend (65), Joohyung Kim from Korea (69) and American John Catlin (72).

Chan has two Asian Tour titles to his name, which both came in 2016 first in the King's Cup, here in Thailand, and then the Asia-Pacific Diamond Cup in Japan. He is also a six-time winner on the Asian Development Tour ‒ the last of those coming in 2018.

Also Read : Kshitij take one-shot lead into final round at ICC RCGC Golf C'ships

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Kolkata, Nov 27 (Golf news) Delhi's Kshitij Naveed Kaul produced a dogged two-under 70 to carry a slender one-shot lead into the final round of the ICC RCGC Open Golf Championship here on Saturday.

Angad Cheema and Ankur Chadha were a close second and third respectively after the third round of the tournament.

However, there was daylight between the top three and the rest of the field at the Rs. 40 lakh event being played at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club (RCGC) here.

The 20-year-old Kshitij, the halfway leader by two shots, managed to keep his nose ahead in round three as he fired three birdies and a bogey that took his total to 12-under 204.

Panchkula's Angad (68-68-69), lying overnight second, narrowed the gap between himself and the leader to just one shot after his round of 69 that featured four birdies and a bogey.

Gurugram's Ankur (68-69-69), who was third at the halfway stage, too carded a 69 punctuated by five birdies and two bogeys, to keep himself in the fray.

While Kshitij and Angad are in search of their second title, Ankur will look to take a shot at his maiden title.

Sunit Chowrasia (71) was the highest-placed Kolkata golfer in tied fourth at six-under 210. Last week's winner Yuvraj Singh Sandhu (72) of Chandigarh joined Sunit in tied fourth position.

Greater Noida-based Arjun Sharma returned the day's best card of 67 to be placed 15th at two-under 214.

Defending champion Mithun Perera (73-73-74) of Sri Lanka was tied 32nd at four-over 220.

Also Read : Kshitij Naveed Kaul climbs to top with sublime 65

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Kolkata, Nov 26 (Golf News) Delhi's Kshitij Naveed Kaul climbed to the top with a sublime seven-under 65 in round two of the ICC RCGC Open Golf Championship here on Friday.

The 20-year-old Kshitij (69-65), a winner on the PGTI in 2019, struck the tournament's best round so far featuring nine birdies and two bogeys to take his 36-hole tally to 10-under 134 for a two-shot lead. Kaul made a gain of five spots from his overnight tied sixth.

Panchkula-based Angad Cheema (68-68), part of the five-way lead on day one, shot a second consecutive 68 to occupy second place at eight-under 136.

Gurugram's Ankur Chadha (68-69), also a joint leader in round one, ended day two in third place at seven-under 137 following his 69 on Friday.

The cut came down at three-over 147. Fifty-three professionals made the cut.

Kshitij Naveed Kaul, currently 19th on the PGTI Order of Merit and fresh from top-20s in his last three events, had birdies at regular intervals on the front-nine picking up shots on the second, fourth, seventh and ninth as a result of conversions from a range of seven to 15 feet.

Kaul then slowed down after a couple of erratic tee shots resulted in bogeys for him on the 10th and 11th. Kshitij then came roaring back with a birdie on the 12th followed by four in succession from the 15th to the 18th. He narrowly missed eagles on the 15th and 17th with his approach from 160 yards landing within inches of the pin on the latter.

The promising young talent signed off in style with a 20-feet birdie conversion on the 18th.

Angad Cheema began the day with two birdies but then made pars and dropped a bogey to be one-under for the day through 13 holes. He then pushed ahead with three birdies between the 14th and the 17th.

Ankur Chadha mixed four birdies with a bogey during his 69 which featured two conversions from a range of 12 to 20 feet.

Chandigarh's Yuvraj Singh Sandhu, Ahmedabad’s Anshul Patel, Delhi's Chiragh Kumar and Om Prakash Chouhan of Mhow were in tied fourth at six-under 138.

Sunit Chowrasia was the highest-placed Kolkata golfer in tied eighth at five-under 139. His second round 68 included four successive birdies on the front-nine.

Mari Muthu of Bengaluru, one of the five joint leaders from round one, dropped to tied eighth after a 71 on Friday.

Defending champion Mithun Perera (73-73) of Sri Lanka was tied 33rd at two-over 146. 

Also Read : Teen star Jahanvi grabs fourth win of the year at 13th Leg of Hero WPGT

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Hyderabad, Nov 26 (Golf News) Teen star Jahanvi Bakshi fetched her second consecutive and fourth overall title of the year as she rallied from a one-shot deficit to emerge triumphant in the 13th Leg of the Hero Women's Pro Golf Tour at the Boulder Hills Golf and Country Club here on Friday.

Seher Atwal, who shared the overnight lead with Amandeep Drall, needed a birdie on the 18th to get into a play-off with Jahanvi, but she managed only a par.

Meanwhile Vani Kapoor, playing alongside Jahanvi, had a chance to go join the latter, but she bogeyed the par-5 18th and fell one behind.

Jahanvi (69) totalled seven-under 209, while Seher (71) was six-under 210.

Vani Kapoor (70) and Amandeep Drall (72) were tied third on the final day.

Pranavi Urs shot 70 and was sole fifth, while Jahanvi's sister Hitaashee (73), who was level with her, was undone by two bogeys on the back nine. She ended sixth.

Jahanvi, who began the week with an even-par 72, had a 68 on the second day. In the final round, she birdied fifth and seventh, both of which were par-5s and turned in two-under.

On the back nine she dropped a shot on par-5 14th but made up on the next with a birdie on 15th. She parred the last three holes, including the 18th.

Saaniya Sharma (74) was sole seventh, while Asmitha Sathish (73) and Khushi Khanijau (77) were Tied-8th. Rhea P Saravanan (74) completed the Top-10.

Despite Jahanvi's fourth win of the year, Amandeep maintained her place at the top of the Hero Order of Merit, which is combined for 2020 and 2021.

Vani is lying second, while Jahanvi is third and Hitaashee is fourth. Seher is at fifth. 

Also Read : Aditi tied 8th, Tvesa 39th in Andalucia Open in Spain

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Marbella (Spain), Nov 26 (Cricket News) India's Aditi Ashok suffered a setback with a late double bogey but finished one-under 71 to be placed tied eighth after the first round of the Andalucía Costa del Sol Open de España golf tournament here.

The other Indian in the field, Tvesa Malik, who has had a steady season, was tied 39th after a round of three-over 75.

After briefly holding a share of the lead, Aditi who started with a birdie-birdie and turned in three-under, had a rocky back nine.

Aditi bogeyed 10th and 13th but birdies on 12th and 14th meant she was still three-under with four holes to go. She double bogeyed the Par-4 15th and finished with three pars for 71.

Tvesa had a bit of a struggle at the end of a long season, as she had only one birdie on seventh and had four bogeys for a 75.

Tvesa sits in the 18th place on the Race to Costa Del Sol standings after playing 19 events, while Aditi is 34th, having played 10 events.

Three players sit in a share of the lead on three-under-par after the first round.  Spain's Fatima Fernandez Cano, France's Anne-Lise Caudal and Belgium's Manon De Roey all fired rounds of 69 to be at the top of the leaderboard at Los Naranjos Golf Club.

It was the Belgian who posted her score early on having been drawn in the first group of the day and started from the 10th tee.

De Roey's only dropped shot of the day came on the 13th, but she soon bounced back with birdies at 16 and 18 to make the turn in 35 (-1).

The 29-year-old made the most of the par-fives on the course securing two more birdies on the second and fifth holes to finish on three-under. Birdies on 16 and 18 saw her make the turn in 35 and the Belgian made the most of the par-fives with two more birdies on the second and fifth holes.

The Belgian comes into the Andalucía Costa del Sol Open de España in good form having led her team to a T4 finish at the Aramco Team Series – Jeddah.

One shot back from the leaders are four players who sit on two-under-par having fired round of 70 and they include Spain's Carlota Ciganda alongside Sweden's Linda Wessberg, England's Hannah Burke and Argentina's Magdalena Simmermacher. 

Also Read : Solid starts for Kapur, Chikka as Asian Tour returns after 20 months

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Kolkata, Nov 26 (Cricket News) Legendary former India captain Kapil Dev on Friday asked whether Hardik Pandya can be called an all-rounder given that he has not been bowling as much as the role demands.

A vital cog in India's scheme of things in white-ball cricket, the flamboyant Pandya bowled in just two matches in the recent T20 World Cup where India went out in the group stage itself.

He is also under fire for not revealing the extent of his several fitness issues and was dropped from the home T20 series against New Zealand, which India won 3-0.

"He has to do both the jobs to be considered an all-rounder. He is not bowling so can we call him all-rounder? Let him bowl, he has come out from the injury," Kapil said at the Royal Calcutta Golf Course here.

"He is an extremely important batter to the country, for bowling he has to play a lot more matches, perform and bowl and then we will say," added India's first World Cup-winning captain.

Kapil also predicted that Rahul Dravid the coach will be a bigger success than the immensely accomplished Dravid the cricketer.

Dravid began his new innings as the Indian team's head coach in the ongoing series against New Zealand, a post he has been given till the 2023 ODI World Cup in India.

"He's a good man, a good cricketer. He will do a better job as a coach than as a cricketer because in cricket nobody has done better than him. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed," Kapil said.

Dravid earlier served as the head of National Cricket Academy and was also the coach of India's Under-19 and A teams, nurturing several young talents who went on to represent the country with distinction.

Talking about Dravid as the chief coach, Kapil further said: "You can't just judge one after his debut, you don't go by one performance. Over a period of time, what Rahul will do, we will come to know. You only think positive." The 62-year-old was here as the Board member of Professional Golf Tour of India that is conducting the ICC RCGC Open Golf Championship.

Asked about his favourite all-rounders, Kapil named Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.

"I just go to watch cricket these days and enjoy the game. I don't see from your perspective. My job is to enjoy the sport.

"I would say Ashwin, hats off to him," he said, adding Jadeja's name.

Kapil, however, rued that Jadeja's bowling has not been at its best of late.

"Jadeja... What a fabulous cricketer he is, but unfortunately he improved as a batter and come down as a bowler to me.

"When he started, he was a far better bowler but now he's a far better batter. Every time India needs him, he will get runs. But he's not performing as a bowler," Kapil said.

The former India captain also hailed Shreyas Iyer for his debut century in the ongoing first Test against the Black Caps.

"When any youngster makes a hundred on debut, it means the sport is going in the right direction. We need cricketers like him.

"He waited for almost four-five years to play for India. Finally he got a chance and came out with flying colours," he concluded. 

Also Read : India reach 339 for 8 at lunch on Day 2 of first Test against NZ

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Phuket, Nov 25 (Golf news) Indian golfers Shiv Kapur and S Chikkarangappa carded a solid four-under 68 each in the opening round as the Asian Tour made a welcome return to action after a gap of 20 months with the Blue Canyon Phuket Championship here on Thursday.

Kapur and Chikka were the best placed Indians at Tied-fifth after the opening day at the USD 1 million event at Blue Canyon Country Club.

It was a good day for India as three others Honey Baisoya, Karandeep Kochhar and Viraj Madappa were Tied-10th with rounds of three-under 69 each.

SSP Chawrasia, Ajeetesh Sandhu and Veer Ahwalat shot two-under 70 each and were T-24, while Indian golf legend Jeev Milkha Singh and Khalin Joshi carded one-under 71 each to be T-42nd on a low scoring day.

John Catlin took the clubhouse lead in the first round when he carded a seven-under-par 65.

On a jubilant first day back for the Tour following a long period of uncertainty caused by the pandemic, the American Catlin shot a dazzling round consisting of two eagles and three birdies ‒ on the famous Canyon Course.

As many as nine players were yet to finish their first round.

Among other Indians, Aman Raj (72) was T-61, Aadil Bedi (73) was T-79, Rashid Khan (76) was T-117th and Udayan Mane (77) was T-131st.

Kapur, who has had fair success in Thailand, had five birdies with two on the front nine and three on the back against one bogey on the second.

Chikka, looking for his maiden title on the main Asian Tour, also had five birdies against bogey.

Baisoya had six birdies, but gave away three bogeys as Karandeep Kochhar had eight birdies, but three bogeys and a double pulled him down to 69. Madappa had four birdies against one bogey.

Chinese-Taipei's Chan Shih-chang and South African Ian Snyman also impressed with 66s to sit in second place, while Thailand's Phachara Khongwatmai fired a 67.

Catlin, based in Hua Hin in Thailand, has been in inspired form over the past three years ‒ claiming four Asian Tour titles and three European Tour wins ‒ and gave another masterclass today.

"I made a few long ones, I just happened to play good. And I took advantage of the par fives," said the 31-year-old Californian.

He eagled the par-five ninth after holing a 30 footer following a brave three-iron second shot, and later eagled the par-five 15th after nailing a three wood to nine feet.

"Last time I was here was in May 2020. Feels great, like I have been saying for the past four years it feels like a second home," he added.

Chan, who became a Dad recently, has also been in prolific form of late, recording four wins on his countries domestic circuit.

He was also runner-up in last week's Yeangder TPC ‒ an event normally played on the Asian Tour but wasn't this year because of COVID-19.

This week's Blue Canyon Phuket Championship will be followed by the Laguna Phuket Championship next week at Laguna Golf Phuket.

Both Phuket events boastprizemoney of USD 1 million and will be followed by two events being planned in Singapore in January that will bring to a conclusion the 2020-21 season.

Also Read : Flawless Hitaashee sets course record as Amandeep, Seher lead 13th leg of Hero WPGT

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Hyderabad, Nov 25 (Golf news) Hitaashee Bakshi shot one of the best rounds of the season with a ladies course record of seven-under 65 in the second round of the 13th Leg of the Hero Women's Pro Golf Tour at Boulder Hills Golf and Country Club here on Thursday.

The round also made up for the somewhat listless 75 she had scored on the first day.

While the sensational round of 65 took Hitaashee to tied third place, Amandeep Drall, the leader on the Hero Order of Merit, carded five-under 67 and moved to the top of the leaderboard.

Amandeep shared the lead with Seher Atwal (69) at five-under 139.

Hitaashee is sharing the third place with sister Jahanvi, who has held the spotlight this season with three wins. Jahanvi shot 68 and was four-under 140.

Saaniya Sharma (70) and Vani Kapoor (74), who sizzled on the back nine on the first day in her round of 67, were at three-under 141 in fifth place.

Pranavi Urs (71) shot a score similar to her first round effort to be two-under 142.

With seven players within three shots of each other, the final round promises to be a cliff-hanger.

Amandeep Drall was bogey free on the front nine with four birdies and added two more on back nine while giving away one bogey in her 67.

Seher opened with two birdies and closed with three in a row and in between dropped shots on seventh and 11th for her 69.

The toast of the day was Hitaashee, who after a lacklustre start to the week, was in stunning form.

She had three birdies on the front nine and four on the back nine as she closed birdie-birdie. She fed on the momentum as she had back-to-back birdies three times during the day.

Jahanvi was also bogey free like her sister but she had only two birdies on either side of the course, which yielded seven cards under the par on the second day.

With Amandeep, Seher and Hitaashee in the lead group and the next group ahead of them having Vani Kapoor, Saaniya Sharma and Jahanvi Bakshi, the stage is set for a tight finish.

Also Read : Muthu, Gupta, three others in joint lead at ICC RCGC Open Golf C'ship

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Kolkata, Nov 25 (Golf news) Five golfers, including multiple PGTI winners Harendra Gupta and Angad Cheema, shot matching scores of four-under 68 to enjoy the first round lead at the Rs. 40 lakh ICC RCGC Open Golf Championship here on Thursday.

Bengaluru's Mari Muthu R, Gurugram's Ankur Chadha and Vikrant Chopra of Noida are the other three golfers at the top.

On a packed leaderboard, the leading quintet was one shot ahead of six players bunched in tied sixth at three-under 69 which included Akram Ali Mollah of Kolkata, Tapy Ghai, Sri Lankan Anura Rohana, last week’s winner Yuvraj Singh Sandhu, Kshitij Naveed Kaul and Kurush Heerjee.

It was a high scoring day that witnessed sub-par rounds by only 31 players in a field of 126.

Mari and Harendra, both room-mates this week, found themselves at the top of the pack with the former firing an eagle, four birdies and two bogeys and the latter returning a bogey-free round with four birdies to his credit.

Harendra, multiple winner on the PGTI, has had a promising run since the resumption of the tour in September having posted two top-10s and two other top-20s. He is currently 22nd on the Order of Merit.

Angad, currently 23rd on the PGTI Order of Merit, came up with five birdies and a bogey on Thursday.

Angad, a winner on the PGTI, was five-under through 17 holes when he was looking good for the sole lead. However, he bogeyed the closing ninth, missing a five-footer, for his only blemish of the day that saw him drop down into the joint lead at four-under.

Ankur got off to a whirlwind start on the back-nine with four birdies on his first five holes before dropping bogeys on the 15th and 18th. He made a recovery, picking up two birdies on the front-nine.

After being even-par on the back-nine, Vikrant too made his way up the leaderboard by firing four birdies on the front-nine.

Defending champion Mithun Perera of Sri Lanka carded a one-over 73 to be tied 42nd.

Also Read : Vani lands 5 birdies on back nine to take 3-shot lead in 13th Leg of WPGT

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Hyderabad, Nov 24 (Golf news) Vani Kapoor was in electric form on the back nine with five birdies over the last seven holes as she blazed to 5-under 67 and took a three-shot lead at the end of the first round of the 13th Leg of the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour here on Wednesday.

Vani, who has been searching for a win for quite some time, was even par for the front nine with one bogey on sixth which was compensated for by a birdie on ninth at the Boulder Hills Golf & Country Club here.

Seher Atwal also had a good back nine with three birdies after being one-over for the front nine and was sole second.

Two others, Saaniya Sharma and Pranavi Urs carded 1-under 71 each for Tied-third, while Amandeep Drall and last week’s winner Jahanvi Bakshi shot even par 72 each and were Tied-fifth.

Asmitha Sathish, with three closing birdies, carded 73 and was seventh, while Neha Tripathi had a 74 with no birdies and was Tied-eighth with Ridhima Dilawari who carded two birdies in the first three holes but struggled thereafter and had no more birdies.

Oviya Reddi, Khushi Khanijau, Hitaashee Bakshi and Shweta Mansingh were all Tied-10th with cards of 75 each.

Playing steady, Vani navigated the front nine carefully and was all fire on the back nine.

Seher, too, was rather quiet on the front stretch before picking three birdies against no bogeys on the return journey.

With four players in the sub-par territory, it should be a close fight over the next two days.

Also Read : Mithun Perera top draw in RCGC Open

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Kolkata, Nov 23 (Golf news) Defending champion and Sri Lankan ace Mithun Perera will be the top draw in the second edition of the 'ICC RCGC Open Golf Championship Powered by Urbana' beginning here from Thursday.

The tournament will see top Indian professionals in the PGTI Order of Merit like Manu Gandas, Yuvraj Singh Sandhu, Om Prakash Chouhan, Akshay Sharma, Amardeep Malik, M Dharma and Kshitij Naveed Kaul, as well as the experienced Shamim Khan and Mukesh Kumar, among others.

Other international players in the fray are Sri Lankans Anura Rohana, N Thangaraja and K Prabagaran, Bangladeshis Mohammad Zamal Hossain Mollah, Badal Hossain, Mohammad Sayum, Mohammad Dulal Hossain and Mohammad Akbar Hossain.

Kolkata-based professionals such as former PGTI Order of Merit champion Shankar Das, former Indian Open champion Feroz Ali Mollah and other leading players such as Sunit Chowrasia, Divyanshu Bajaj and Mohammad Sanju will be local challengers.

"We look forward to this event growing into one of the biggest attractions in Kolkata, one of India's leading golfing centres, in the future," PGTI CEO Uttam Singh Mundy said.

"We're excited about returning to the RCGC, one of the top championship venues in the country, after a gap of two years." Cricket legend Kapil Dev, who was included into PGTI as a board member, will also attend the meet and interact with the participants during his brief one-day visit on Friday.

Also Read : Kapur, Sandhu and Chawrasia gear up for Phuket Championship

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Phuket (Thailand), Nov 23 (Golf news) Veteran golfer Jeev Milkha Singh, Shiv Kapur and Rashid Khan are among 14 Indian players who will compete at the Blue Canyon Phuket Championship as action is set to resume on the Asian Tour after 20 months.

The event, carrying a purse of one million dollars, will be held from November 25 to 28 at the par-72 Blue Canyon Country Club.

India will have as many as 14 players in the 144-man field, which signals a new era for Asian Tour, which now has a tie up with Greg Norman-led Liv Golf Investments, who have committed to 10 events of a one million dollars each in the season 2022.

Ajeetesh Sandhu, S Chikkarangappa, Viraj Madappa, Aman Raj, SSP Chawrasia, Honey Baisoya, Udayan Mane, Khalin Joshi, Aadil Bedi, Karandeep Kochhar and Veer Ahlawat are the other Indians in the fray.

The Dubai-based Kapur, who just won the Jeev Milkha Singh International on the Indian Tour, said, "It will be nice to see action on the Asian Tour once again." "It's been a long time and I am glad many of the youngsters and newcomers who were eager for competition in 2020 never got to see any of it since March 2020. The events in Thailand and Singapore should be a good start as the Asian Tour promises much more with its new tie-ups." Ajeetesh Sandhu and SSP Chawrasia did see some starts in Europe during the pandemic, but were both happy to see tournaments return to the Asian Tour.

"It is great for Asian golfers and youngsters,” said Chawrasia, a six-time winner on the Asian Tour. “We hear a strong schedule will be in place next year, so lets see how it goes.” India’s Khalin Joshi and Chikkarangappa S have also tasted wins recently on the Indian Tour and are in fine form.

The top contenders include American John Catlin, who has had a great season in Europe, Korean prodigy Joohyung Kim, Thai master and reigning Order of Merit champion Jazz Janewattananond and Malaysian star Gavin Green.

Catlin is the highest world ranked player in the field at 123 and he has won win three events on the European Tour.

The current Order of Merit leader Wade Ormsby of Australia who won the 2020 Hong Kong Open will also return to challenge for more honours. Korean sensation Joohyung Kim, who won the Panasonic Open India in only his sixth start on the Asian Tour, is also one of the fan favourites and Thai hotshots include Sadom Kaewkanjana and Phachara Khongwatmai.

Also Read : Sandhu clinches maiden title with dominating final round of 64

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Digboi (Assam), Nov 20 (Golf News) Chandigarh's Yuvraj Singh Sandhu claimed his maiden title on the PGTI in style with a dominating final round performance of eight-under 64 at the Rs 60 lakh IndianOil SERVO Masters Golf here on Saturday.

Sandhu's (66-68-67-64) tournament tally of 23-under 265 set the record for the lowest winning total at the Digboi Golf Links as he registered a thumping six-shot victory with Bengaluru's M Dharma (69-68-68-66) finishing runner-up at 17-under 271 following his last round of six-under 66.

The 24-year-old Yuvraj, the overnight leader by two shots, came up with an eagle, eight birdies and two bogeys in round four to pick up the winning cheque worth Rs. 9,69,900 and thus zoom from 11th place to sixth position in the PGTI Order of Merit for 2020-2021 with his season's earnings moving to a total of Rs. 33,69,400.

Sandhu, the son of an Army officer, had enjoyed an exceptional season prior to landing in Digboi with nine previous top-10s including six in the last seven events.

The two-time winner on the PGTI Feeder Tour began the day with a bogey on the first but soon regained ground with birdies on the third, fifth and seventh. He chipped-in on the fifth.

From the third till the eighth hole, M Dharma was breathing down Yuvraj's neck as the former sank five birdies to trail the latter by just one shot. However, a couple of erratic shots led to Dharma's double-bogey on the ninth.

Sandhu then made a crucial chip-putt birdie on the 11th to seize the momentum as he got on a hot streak making three birdies, an eagle and a birdie on the next five holes that stretched his lead to seven shots and sealed the deal for him.

Yuvraj, the 2019 PGTI Feeder Tour Order of Merit champion, produced two excellent drives, a 30-feet conversion and two 10-feet conversions during his dream run from the 11th to the 16th.

Sandhu's bogey on the 17th didn't change the equation as his nearest rival Dharma was a fair distance away with just three birdies on the back-nine.

Yuvraj's 23-under 265 bettered the previous lowest winning total of 20-under 268 at the Digboi Golf Links achieved by Mukesh Kumar in 2002, Shankar Das in 2015 and Honey Baisoya in 2016.

Yuvraj, the leader for the previous two days, said, "I started with the same feeling as the first three days but Dharma played some phenomenal golf on the first eight holes and he gave me a tough time on the front-nine. But on the back-nine I got the reins back and took control.

"I've let my clubs do the talking, all the hard work I've put in is paying off. I can't be more thankful to my team consisting of my coach and physio. They've all been part of this process.

It's a special moment for me and I want to treasure it. I want to let it sink in and get my tub of ice cream to celebrate." Delhi's Sachin Baisoya (66) matched his career-best finish of tied third as he totalled 15-under 273 for the week.

Om Prakash Chouhan (70) of Mhow also claimed tied third place along with Baisoya.

Chandigarh's Harendra Gupta (69) finished fifth at 14-under 274.

Local golfer Deepraj Chetia (69-71-72-76) took tied 33rd place at even-par 288. 

Also Read : Anirban Lahiri misses cut at RSM Classic

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St. Simons Island, Nov 20 (Golf News) Indian golfer Anirban Lahiri missed the cut at the RSM Classic, his last PGA Tour event of the year, after enduring a nightmarish back nine in the second round of tournament.

Lahiri, who shot 4-under 68 in the first round, was 2-under for the front nine and stayed there till the 11th.

Over the last seven holes he dropped three bogeys and a double bogey for a round of 73 and missed the weekend action.

Meanwhile, Talor Gooch handled the strong wind off the Atlantic Ocean and shot 5-under 65 over the exposed Seaside course. He took a one-shot lead.

The balmy conditions of the first day gave way to winds of 25 mph and it was also 10 degrees cooler.

Zach Johnson, who lives at Sea Island, worked hard for 1-under 71 on the Plantation course to finish three shots behind.

Some of the big names missing the cut were major champions Jason Day, Lucas Glover and Graeme McDowell, besides defending champion Robert Streb.

Gooch equalled the day's low score of 65, also achieved by Taylor Moore who had a 65 including hole-in-one on the 17th hole. Gooch was 13-under 129.

The highlight of Gooch's round was an eagle from 66 feet on the par-5 seventh. Gooch made only one bogey.

Gooch led John Huh by one shot. Hug had a 67 at Plantation, and Sebastian Munoz, who went from a 60 at Seaside to a 70 in the second round at Plantation was also 12-under. Moore and Mackenzie Hughes of Canada (68 at Seaside) were two shots behind.

Munoz, who matched the tournament record with a 60 in the first round at Seaside, birdied his last hole to share second with Huh.

The cut was at 4-under 138. Among those making it to the weekend was 57-year-old tournament host Davis Love III with birdies at Nos. 13 and 15 for an even-par 70 at Seaside.

Also making the cut was Adam Scott, who needed birdies on three of four holes on the Plantation back nine for a 71. 

Also Read : Jahanvi displays steady golf for a big 5-shot win in 12th leg of Hero WPGT

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Hyderabad, Nov 19 (Golf news) Jahanvi Bakshi gave ample indication of her potential by lifting the title with a superb round of 2-under 69 when most others seemed to be struggling on the final day of the 12th leg of the Hero WPGT at the Hyderabad Golf Club.

Jahanvi, who had won twice before, became the first to win three titles on the Hero WPGT this season. She killed all prospects of a close fight with some very good golf, even as others gave away early shots.

Jahanvi, who has had a great season with at least a top-5 finish in each of the past 11 legs barring one, once again finished right on top and it came in a commanding manner.

Shooting her third straight under par round, she carded 2-under 69, her best after rounds of 70-70 on first two days.

She finished with 4-under 209 and was five shots better than Vani Kapoor (73), who totalled 1-over 214.

Gaurika Bishnoi, who shared the second round lead with Jahanvi, crumbled in the final round with five bogeys and no birdies in a round of 76 that saw her drop to tied-3rd alongside Amandeep Drall (71).

Amateur Sneha Singh (74) was fifth, while Khushi Khanijau, who finished with four bogeys in a row, shot 76 and was sixth.

Hitaashee Bakshi (76) and Seher Atwal (74) were tied seventh, while Pranavi Urs (73) and Shweta Mansingh (74) completed the Top-10.

Jahanvi began with a birdie on second and then dropped only one shot on the fifth. She made up with a birdie on ninth and 15th and parred the rest for her 69 to display very steady and clean golf.

Vani Kapoor suffered a double bogey on the Par-5 sixth, had a birdie on the 15th and another bogey on 16th in her 73.

Amandeep had her best card of the week with 71 which had four birdies and four bogeys while Gaurika was off colour and shot 76.

Amandeep stays on top of the Hero Order of Merit which is combined for both 2020 and 2021.

Vani Kapoor is now second, while Jahanvi with three wins, all in 2021, is third. Her sister Hitaashee is fourth and Seher Atwal is fifth.

Also Read : Lahiri shoots 4-under 68 but still lies 55th at low scoring RSM Classic

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St. Simons Island (Georgia), Nov 19 (Golf news) Indian golfer Anirban Lahiri returned a card of four-under 68 but that was good enough only for Tied-55th spot on the opening day of the RSM Classic, here on Friday.

Starting from the 10th tee, Lahiri, who is looking to close 2021 with a solid result on the PGA Tour after some disappointments, had a birdie on 10th, 12th, 14th and 15th but dropped a shot on the 12th.

He was 3-under at the turn as all others seemed to be bagging birdies in larger numbers. On the back nine Lahiri managed just one birdie but had no bogeys to finish at 4-under 68 on the Par-72 Plantation course.

On a low scoring day, Sebastian Munoz saw the tough weather conditions but made birdies to come back with a 10-under 60 on the Par-70 Seaside course.

The tournament is played over two courses – the Plantation which is Par-72 and Seaside, which is Par-70.

Yet, scoring was so low at Sea Island that Munoz had just a one-shot lead. The Colombian, who won his first PGA TOUR event just over two years ago, birdied his final hole at Seaside.

He led by one stroke over Sea Island member Zach Johnson at Seaside, while three other players were one shot behind. Past champion Mackenzie Hughes, Chez Reavie and Scott Stallings each had a 9-under 63 on the Plantation course.

Four players were tied at 8 under, led by Canadian Corey Conners (62 at Seaside). His wife, Malory, gave birth last week to their first child, a girl named Reis. Jhonattan Vegas, Talor Gooch and Russell Henley shot 64 at Plantation.

As many as 33 players shot 66 or lower on the two courses and all but 21 players in the field of 156 broke par. The scoring average of 66.308 at the Seaside was a tournament record.

Munoz hit 11 fairways and 16 greens, made six birdies on the front nine and had a 12-foot eagle putt at No. 15 and a 10-foot birdie putt at No. 18 and one more birdie.

Also Read : Yuvraj surges ahead with second round 68 in Digboi

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Digboi (Assam), Nov 18 (Golf news) Chandigarh's Yuvraj Singh Sandhu surged ahead with a second round of four-under 68 at the Rs 60 lakh IndianOil SERVO Masters Golf 2021 being played at the Digboi Golf Links here on Thursday.

The 24-year-old Yuvraj (66-68), placed three off the lead in tied second position after round one, had a slow start to the day but made big gains on the back-nine to move his total to 10-under 134 on day two.

Sri Lanka's Anura Rohana shot the day's best score of six-under 66 to rise to tied second at nine-under 135 along with Harendra Gupta (68) of Chandigarh.

The cut went at even-par 144. Fifty professionals made the cut.

Earlier in the day, the start of play was delayed by 45 minutes due to fog. Play got underway at 6:45 am. The 18 players who could not finish their first round on Wednesday, came out and completed their round in the morning. The second round began simultaneously.

Among those who completed round one on Thursday morning was Om Prakash Chouhan of Mhow, who shot a 66, to join Yuvraj and Shravan Desai of Ahmedabad in tied second, three shots behind leader Anshul Patel, another Ahmedabad golfer.

In round two, Yuvraj, a two-time winner on the PGTI Feeder Tour, was even-par for the day through 10 holes having made a birdie and bogey before he hit his stride with four birdies between the 11th and 18th.

Sandhu came close to holing out his chip for eagle on the 11th and almost drove the green on the par-4 14th. The 2019 PGTI Feeder Tour Order of Merit champion then played two more accurate wedge shots that led to birdies on the 15th and 18th.

Yuvraj, who turned pro in 2018, said, "I was mentally in that state where I felt I had to carry forward the momentum from yesterday. Therefore, I was a little anxious to begin with. That's when I told myself that it's just another day of golf so why not enjoy it.

"The post-COVID hard work on the course and in the gym with my coach and fitness trainer seems to be paying off. I'm following the same thought process on and off the golf course for the last few weeks which has in turn contributed to the consistency in my performances.

"The key from here on would be finding maximum greens at this course which has relatively smaller greens. I need to create more birdie opportunities for myself to keep the rhythm going." Anura Rohana (69-66) fired the day's best score of 66 to climb 11 spots to tied second. Rohana, who was even-par for his first 11 holes of the day, went on a birdie-spree with five straight birdies from the third till the seventh as he converted some long putts and made a chip-in on the sixth. He closed the day with another birdie on the ninth.

Harendra Gupta (67-68), lying overnight tied fifth, moved up three spots to joint second after posting a 68. Gupta, a former champion, began the day with a bogey on the first before rallying with five birdies thereafter including a chip-in on the third and birdies on three of the four par-5s.

Chouhan (70) was placed fourth at eight-under 136 while M Dharma (68) of Bengaluru and Bangladesh's Md Akbar Hossain (69) were both in tied fifth place at seven-under 137.

Round one leader Anshul Patel shot a 76 to slip to tied 10th at five-under 139.

The only local golfer to make the cut was Deepraj Chetia (69-71) who ended the day in tied 15th at four-under 140.

Also Read : Gaurika sizzles on front nine to join Jahanvi in lead in 12th leg of WPGT

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Hyderabad, Nov 18 (Golf news) Gaurika Bishnoi played a brilliant front nine with four birdies and finished with a card of 3-under 68 to get into shared lead after two rounds in the 12th leg of the Hero WPGT here on Thursday.

Gaurika, whose last success came in June 2019, added 68 to her first round 72 and shared the lead with first round sole leader Jahanvi Bakshi, who shot 70 on the first day and repeated the effort on Thursday to get to 2-under 140.

Gaurika had a flying start with birdies on second, fourth, seventh and ninth to turn in 4-under. A bogey on 11th was her only blemish though she missed a few chances on the back nine at the Hyderabad Golf Club.

Gaurika had a long break during COVID-19 pandemic and has since played a few tournaments in Europe. She seems to be getting back her rhythm which made her a consistent star on the WPGT.

Jahanvi birdied fourth but gave away that gain on the next hole. A bogey on 13th meant she was over par, but birdies on 15th and 17th ensured a good finish.

Also under par after two days was Vani Kapoor, whose card of 3-under 68 included four birdies, two on either side of the course, against one bogey on the Par-5 10th.

On a day when the cut was applied at 9-over 151 with 17 players making the cut, four players shot under par.

Apart from Gaurika, Jahanvi and Vani, Khushi Khanijau also carded 1-under 70 with three birdies against one bogey. Khushi was Tied-fourth.

Amandeep, who is tied fourth with Khushi, had a great birdie run of four in five holes between sixth and 10th, but she still managed only 72 as she bogeyed five times, including three in the last six holes.

Amateur Sneha Singh carded another 73 and was Tied-sixth with Hitaashee Bakshi, who had four bogeys on the front nine and no birdies through the day. Sneha had three birdies, three bogeys and a double bogey.

Saaniya Sharma (77-71) and Seher Atwal (76-72) were Tied-eighth while Ridhima Dilawari (76-73) and Trimann Saluja (76-73) rounded off the Top-10.

With the players going off from both tees on the final day, the lead group of Gaurika, Jahanvi and Vani, who are separated by one shot, should be engaged in a tight battle, though Khushi Khanijau and the seasoned Amandeep Drall, who are five behind the co-leaders, can still put up a strong challenge.

Also Read : Lahiri hopes to make last start of 2021 count at RSM Classic

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Sea Island (US), Nov 18 (Golf news) After a none-too-impressive beginning, Indian golfer Anirban Lahiri is hoping to make his last start of the season count at the RSM Classic here.

The season wraps up on the Sea Island in Georgia at the Seaside and Plantation Courses. This is the ninth and final event of the fall portion of the 2021-2022 season.

This is the last chance for Lahiri to go into the festival break with a good result in the bag to keep his confidence up when he returns in January.

Lahiri often had had a good start in the Fall and he built on it to stay on the PGA Tour, save the time he came back from the Korn Ferry Tour finals before the pandemic. After having made the FedExCup play-offs for the first time since 2018, Lahiri was hoping for a good start to the new season.

Instead he stands ahead of his final start of 2021 at the RSM Classic with a none-too-happy beginning in five events so far.

Lahiri is due to start with Scott Piercy and Luke List and they go off on the first day at 9.30 am (local time) from the 10th tee at the Plantation Course.

Indian American Sahith Theegala is also in the field and he plays with Dylan Wu and Joshua Creel from the first tee at 10.20 am, while Kiradech Aphibarnrat plays from the first at the Seaside Course with Chris Kirk and Doug Ghim at 9.30 am.

Of the nine events in Fall season, Lahiri is making his sixth start. He did not play three events -- season-opener Fortinet Championship and the two limited field events CJ Cup @ The Summit and the Zozo Championship in Japan, as he did not make the field.

Consistency has been missing. Time and again, Lahiri put together solid rounds, but was not able to do that four days in a row. Also his putting has often let him down.

As for the other players, this will be the seventh consecutive event with a full field and 156 players. The Seaside Course is a Tom Fazio redesign at just 7,005 yards.

Also Read : Anshul Patel hogs limelight with sizzling first round 63

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Digboi (Assam), Nov 17 (Golf news) Ahmedabad's Anshul Patel hogged the limelight with a sizzling first round of nine-under 63 to lead by three shots at the IndianOil SERVO Masters at the Digboi Golf Links here on Wednesday.

Patel's good friend and room-mate Shravan Desai, another Ahmedabad-based professional, was tied second at six-under 66 at the Rs 60 lakh event.

Chandigarh's Yuvraj Singh Sandhu (66) too took a share of second place on day one.

The start of round one was delayed by one hour and 15 minutes in the morning due to fog.

As a result of the delayed start, 18 players out of a total of 117 could not finish their first round on Wednesday. They will come back and resume their round at 6 am local time on Thursday.

The left-handed rookie Anshul Patel, currently ranked 74th in the PGTI Order of Merit and fighting for a spot in the top-60 to retain his card for next year, played some great wedge shots on the back-nine that helped him set up four of his five birdies before the turn.

He also had a 20-feet conversion on the 16th and a bogey on the 17th.

The 26-year-old Patel, playing at Digboi for only the second time, landed it close yet again on the second, third and eighth to pick up three more shots.

Anshul found the green in two on the closing par-5 ninth before draining an eight-footer for eagle, thus ending up with his lowest score in a tournament.

“I felt I was in the zone since the start of the day. I knew if my putts rolled in, I would shoot a good number today. Closing the day with birdie-eagle on the last two holes did a lot for my confidence," Anshul said.

“I’ve been trying to figure out a few things about my game and from the Srinagar event onwards in September I picked up a few things on how I should play around my strengths. That’s given some direction to my game. I’m still looking to putt better though.” Shravan Desai, another rookie like Patel, shot an error-free 66 in his very first competitive round at the Digboi Golf Links.

Desai, currently 68th in the PGTI’s money list, is also vying for a spot in the top-60 to retain his PGTI card. He made two 12 to 15 feet conversions on Wednesday.

Yuvraj Singh Sandhu produced eight birdies and two bogeys during his 66.

Gurugram’s Shivendra Singh Sisodia, former champion Harendra Gupta of Chandigarh and Panchkula’s Angad Cheema were in tied fourth having shot scores of 67.

The two local golfers who made promising starts were Deepraj Chetia (tied 13th at three-under 69) and Dulal Kalowar (tied 37th at even-par 72).

Also Read : Bakshi sisters to the fore; Jahanvi leads by one in 12th Leg of Hero WPGT

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Hyderabad, Nov 17 (Golf news) One of the most consistent players on the Hero Women's Pro Golf Tour, Jahanvi Bakshi played extremely steady golf to take a one-shot lead over her sister, Hitaashee in the first round of the 12th leg of the Hero WPGT here on Wednesday.

Barring the opening leg in 2021, Jahanvi has finished in the Top-5 in each of the last 10 legs and now leads the 12th leg. She has won twice and been runner-up three times.

Playing at the Hyderabad Golf Club, Jahanvi had a birdie on second and 10th but dropped a shot on 12th to card one-under 70, the only sub-par round of the day.

Her sister, Hitaashee, who has also won on the Tour, had bogeys on fourth and fifth, but neutralized them with birdies on seventh and 14th for an even par 71.

It will be interesting to see if Jahanvi can win a third title this year, as she and amateur Avani Prashanth, who is not here this week, are the only ones to win more than once.

Gaurika Bishnoi seemed headed for trouble as she had three bogeys in a row from third to fifth and a fourth on seventh.

She recovered much of that lost ground with birdies on the ninth, 12th and 16th to finish at a respectable one-over 72. Gaurika is seeking to end a title drought since June 2019.

Vani Kapoor, who has not won since March 2020, amateur Sneha Singh, winner of the eighth leg this season, and the Hero Order of Merit leader Amandeep Drall, are in tied fourth place with scores of two-over 73 each.

Lakhmehar Pardesi, who won her maiden Hero WPGT title this year, was lying seventh with 74, while Shagun Narain, Rhea Jha and Khushi Khanijau were tied for eighth at 75.

Pranavi Urs and Ridhima Dilawari had a disappointing start with 76 each.

Ridhima had one par on the front nine and four on the back nine. She had six birdies, four bogeys, two doubles and one triple bogey in a roller-coaster of a round of five-over 76.

Also Read : Former champions Shamim, Mukesh lead a competitive field at PGTI event in Digboi

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Digboi, Nov 16 (Golf news) Former champions, including Shamim Khan and Mukesh Kumar, will vie for top honours when the 21st edition of the Indian Oil SERVO Masters golf tournament begins at the picturesque Digboi Golf Links here on Wednesday.

The Rs 60 lakh event, which is being held under the aegis of the TATA Steel Professional Golf Tour of India, will feature a field of 117 players, including 115 professionals and two amateurs.

The top 50 players and ties will make the cut after round two.

The field will feature top professionals such as Manu Gandas, Yuvraj Singh Sandhu, Akshay Sharma as well as former champions Shankar Das, Harendra Gupta and Sanjay Kumar, besides Shamim and Mukesh Kumar.

The foreign challenge would be led by Sri Lankans Anura Rohana, Mithun Perera, N Thangaraja and K Prabagaran and Bangladesh's Md Zamal Hossain Mollah, Badal Hossain, Md Sayum and Md Akbar Hossain.

The local professionals in the field are Deepraj Chetia, Karanbir Singh Lall, Biren Karmakar, Deven Bhumij, Dulal Kalowar, Bipon Murah, Arun Gowala and Binod Gogoi. The local amateurs in the field are Alok Barua and Jakir Hussain.

Also Read : Amandeep looking to maintain strong form in 12th leg of Hero WPGT

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Hyderabad, Nov 16 (Golf news) Her confidence on a high after winning the 10th leg of the Hero Women's Pro Golf Tour, Amandeep Drall, who had a fine season in Europe, would look to continue her fine form at the 12th event of the Tour to be played at the Hyderabad Golf Club here this week.

The tournament will carry a purse of Rs nine lakh.

Amandeep won the 10th leg at Chandigarh and was runner-up in the 11th leg at Panchkula. The event was won by amateur Avani Prashanth, who is not playing this week.

With many stars busy due to international engagements and the promising youngsters also skipping the event, Amandeep will face the big challenge from the seasoned Vani Kapoor, Gaurika Bishnoi and Ridhima Dilawari, besides the young Bakshi sisters -- Jahanvi and Hitaashee and also Pranavi Urs.

Among the amateurs who played for India at the Women's Amateur Asia-Pacific was Sneha Singh, who missed the cut in Dubai last week. She will be hoping to make up this week.

Among other past winners in this week's field are Pranavi, Lakhmehar Pardesi, Neha Tripathi and Seher Atwal.

The field includes four amateurs.

Amandeep leads the combined Hero Order of Merit for the truncated 2020 season and 2021.

Also Read : Varma finishes inside top-10 in Abu Dhabi

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Chandigarh, Nov 14 (Golf news) Shiv Kapur prevailed over Rashid Khan in a playoff at the Rs. 1.5 crore Jeev Milkha Singh Invitational 2021 to register his first ever win at a PGTI event, here on Sunday.

The tournament was decided in a playoff for the fourth year in succession.

The Dubai-based Kapur (64-68-67-70), who hails from Delhi and Khan (65-67-69-68), another Delhi golfer, were in a deadlock at 19-under 269 at the top of the leaderboard after regulation play having shot final rounds of 70 and 68 respectively at the Chandigarh Golf Club.

Olympian Udayan Mane (69-68-67-67) took third place at 17-under 271 after returning a second straight 67.

Shiv, a six time international winner, who also has two previous wins on the Indian domestic tour to his name, came up with a brilliant second shot from the rough to make a two-putt for par on the playoff hole (18th hole) even as two-time Asian Tour winner Rashid hit his second shot into the water which effectively ended his challenge.

Earlier in the day, the 39-year-old Shiv, the overnight leader by one shot, struggled with his hitting and as a result dropped three bogeys on the front-nine with just one birdie in exchange.

A monster 50-feet birdie conversion on the 11th seemed to be the defining moment of the day for him.

Thereafter, Kapur kept landing it within six feet to pick up birdies on the 13th, 16th and 17th.

He missed a four-footer for birdie and outright victory on the 18th but came back stronger in the playoff to lift the title at his close friend Jeev Milkha Singh's event and take home the winning cheque worth Rs. 24,24,750.

Kapur said, "It was not my prettiest round of golf. I had no rhythm and was all over the place to begin with. The first bit of good luck I had was with the long putt on the 11th." "That's when I told my caddie that this is like the fourth quarter of a basketball game and we can get back. I then had a good back nine and am proud of the way I came back and won despite not having my A game. I was pretty happy with the way I played the last three holes." "Winning Jeev's event is also special since he's like my elder brother and his family is like my second family. Without Jeev's guidance I wouldn't be half the player I am." Khan, who was two shots off the lead at the start of the day, went steady on the front-nine with two birdies and a bogey before emerging as a hot contender for the title with a much better back-nine that saw him make three birdies.

Khan, a three-time PGTI Order of Merit champion, sank a 30-feet birdie putt on the 17th. He made par on the 18th but found the water with his second shot on the playoff hole where he had a bad lie.

Khan had earlier lost out in a marathon playoff to Ajeetesh Sandhu at the 2019 edition of the event. He took home a prize money cheque worth Rs. 16,74,750, while climbing from 16th to seventh position in the PGTI Order of Merit.

While Pune-based Udayan Mane ended third, two shots behind the winner, Chandigarh's Aadil Bedi, who was overnight second and one off the lead, closed the week in fourth after his final round of 72 took his tally to 16-under 272.

Kshitij Naveed Kaul of Delhi was fifth at 15-under 273.

The four Chandigarh golfers, other than Aadil, who finished inside the top-10 were Yuvraj Singh Sandhu (tied sixth at 12-under 276), Abhijit Singh Chadha (eighth at 11-under 277), former champion Ajeetesh Sandhu and last year's champion Karandeep Kochhar (both tied 10th at nine-under 279).

Kochhar continues as the PGTI Order of Merit leader with season's earnings of Rs. 49,59,880.

Among the other marquee names in the field, Gaganjeet Bhullar shot the day's best score of 66 to finish tied 13th at eight-under 280, SSP Chawrasia and former champion Chikkarangappa were both tied 16th at seven-under 281 while Jyoti Randhawa was tied 33rd at three-under 285.

US-based Varun Chopra won the trophy for the best performing amateur as he closed the week in tied 26th at four-under 284.

Also Read : Kapur leads by one stroke at Jeev Milkha Singh Invitational

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Abu Dhabi, Nov 13 (Golf news) Anika Varma on Saturday carded one-under 71 in the final round to become the first Indian to post a top-10 finish in the history of the Women's Amateur Asia-Pacific (WAAP) championship.

The 17-year-old Varma picked up three birdies against two bogeys in the final round to finish tied ninth in the premier regional tournament, which was won by Japan's Mizuko Hashimoto.

On Saturday at Abu Dhabi Golf Club's National course, the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) No.483 once again struggled with her putting, but she fought hard for a fourth consecutive sub-par round.

Her 10-under par 278 was six adrift of champion Hashimoto (16-under-par 272).

Thai duo of Kan Bunnabodee (66) and overnight leader Natthakritta Vongtaveelap (72), along with Australia's Kelsey Bennett (68), were tied second at 15-under-par 273.

Among other Indian players, Natalii Gupta (70), who is Dubai born and nominated for the tournament by the Emirates Golf Federation (EGF), finished tied 13th place at six-under par.

Bengaluru's Avani Prashanth improved her first three day's scores of 71 with a two-under par 70 to finish on five-under par 283 and in tied 16th place.

Sifat Sagoo (70) and Kriti Chowhan (69) were tied 25th and 34th respectively at three-under 285 and even-par 288 respectively.

A late bogey on the 17th hole saw Varma slip a bit and she could not repair the damage on the par-5 18th, where she had a birdie putt from eight feet.

"My week's been filled with a lot of ups and downs. Some really good and amazing holes and some not so great. One of the highlights is that I only made three bogeys this week, which is pretty good," said the Sacramento, US-based player.

"It is really nice to make a top-10 finish. But the only way is going up from here. So, hopefully, it gets closer and closer to winning a tournament." Varma was most pleased with how she approached the game.

"It has been so good this week. I want to carry it on for my next few tournaments and keep the momentum going.

"If I can finish in the top-10 in such a big tournament, it means I do know how to play golf, I am pretty good at it, and I just need to trust myself while playing." In the inaugural WAAP in Singapore in 2018, none of the six Indian players could make it to the weekend, while three players advanced in Japan the year after.

Seher Atwal was the best placed at tied 28th. In comparison, five players made the cut this year, including Natalii Gupta, who was nominated by the hosts Emirates Golf Federation (EGF).

It was a wonderful finish for Gupta.

The 17-year-old, born and brought up in the UAE, said: "I had a blast this week. It was so much fun. I’m thankful to be here. Thankful to be given the opportunity to play this week. It was not the best finish today, but I had fun.

"I’ve never played an event that’s this important and of this class. And it was pretty good to see the standards. But I thought I hit my goal this week." Prashanth, just 15 and winner of two Hero Women’s Golf Association of India (WGAI) Tour events this season, said: "I really enjoyed my round of 70 today, just because I was getting tired of shooting 71s! "I am happy to finish inside the top-20 in my first WAAP, but it should have been better as I made so many birdies this week. I need to make less mistakes." Hashimoto, who made an eagle two on the par-4 third hole, continued an outstanding year for Japan golf.

In April this year, Tsubasa Kajitani and Hideki Matsuyama were winners in back-to-back weeks in Augusta National Women’s Amateur and The Masters, and a similar story unfolded in the UAE with Keita Nakajima winning the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship down the road in Dubai last week.

Apart from the trophy, the 19-year-old Hashimoto also secured guaranteed starts next year in AIG Women's British Open, The Amundi Evian Championship (both majors), as well as the Hana Financial Group Championship and an invitation to play in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur.

Also Read : Tvesa Malik grabs a Top-10 finish in Aramco Series in Jeddah

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Chandigarh, Nov 13 (Golf news) Experienced golfer Shiv Kapur turned in five-under 67 to grab a slender one-shot advantage in a packed leaderboard after the third and penultimate round of the Jeev Milkha Singh Invitational here on Saturday.

Kapur (64-68-67), a four-time winner on the Asian Tour, was 17-under 199 after three days in the Rs. 1.5 crore event Presented by TAKE Sports.

The Dubai-based golfer, one of the pre-tournament favourites, built on his solid previous rounds to be the leader for the third day running at the Chandigarh Golf Club.

Aadil Bedi (68-65-67), a winner on the PGTI in early 2020, kept local hopes alive as he went error-free for the second straight day during his 67 to move up one spot to second position at 16-under 200.

Delhi's Rashid Khan (65-67-69), a two-time Asian Tour winner, slipped out of the overnight joint lead and dropped to third place at 15-under 201 following his 69.

Delhi's Kshitij Naveed Kaul (69) occupied fourth place at 13-under 203.

Gurugram-based Dhruv Sheoran carded the day's best score of eight-under 64 to climb 10 places to tied fifth at 12-under 204. Olympian Udayan Mane (67) was also tied for fifth along with Sheoran.

The 39-year-old Kapur, looking for his first title on the PGTI, had a brisk start as he made four birdies on the first eight holes which included three conversions from a range of 10 to 25 feet.

Kapur, who was bogey-free through his first 44 holes of the tournament, then hit a rough patch dropping three bogeys in exchange for a lone birdie between the ninth and 12th holes.

He missed a couple of par putts on that stretch, including a two-footer on the 12th.

Kapur, originally hailing from Delhi, rallied with three birdies thereafter as his accurate wedge shots set up short birdie putts on the 13th, 16th and 17th that gave him the sole lead for the first time this week.

"Heading into round four, I'll look to continue doing what I've done since the start of the event," Kapur said.

"The focus will be on keeping it in play, giving myself opportunities and making those crucial putts to keep the momentum going." Aadil Bedi carded five birdies and the ones that stood out were his 40-feet conversion on the ninth and his chip-in from the bunker on the 13th. He has so far dropped just one double-bogey in the tournament and there are no bogeys on his card.

Rashid made gains with two birdies on the first 10 holes followed by an eagle on the 13th. He conceded a bogey on the 16th but came back with a superb recovery from the trees to salvage a par on the 17th and keep himself in contention.

Besides Bedi, there were three other Chandigarh professionals in the top-10 as Yuvraj Singh Sandhu and Abhijit Singh Chadha were tied seventh at 11-under 205, while defending champion Karandeep Kochhar climbed 12 spots to tied ninth at nine-under 207 after his round of 65.

Among the other marquee names in the field, former champion Ajeetesh Sandhu of Chandigarh and SSP Chawrasia were both in tied 11th at eight-under 208 while Jyoti Randhawa was another three shots back in tied 18th.

Former champion Chikkarangappa of Bengaluru was tied 23rd at four-under 212. Gaganjeet Bhullar was tied 34th at two-under 214.

The two amateurs to make the cut, US-based Varun Chopra (three-under 213) and Aryan Roopa Anand (even-par 216) of Bengaluru, were placed tied 26th and tied 49th respectively.

Also Read : Lahiri fighting to stay afloat in Houston Open

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Houston, Nov 13 (Golf news) Indian golfer Anirban Lahiri will need at least two birdies to make the cut after being three-over through 28 holes in the weather-hit second round of the Hewlett Packard Enterprise Houston Open here.

Lahiri was moving along with a series of pars for the first 15 holes before dropping two quick shots in succession to finish at 2-over 72 in the first round.

The Indian then had one bogey in 10 holes in the second round when play was suspended due to darkness.

When play stopped, Lahiri was 3-over through 28 holes and needed at least two birdies in last eight holes to have a chance of making the cut.

After six pars, Lahiri bogeyed the par-5 sixth and then had another three pars when play ended for the day.

Martin Trainer grabbed the lead after he holed a pair of long birdie putts in a bogey-free round at Memorial Park for a 5-under 65. He was one shot ahead of Kevin Tway.

The second round would not be completed until Saturday morning as the tournament tried to catch up from a long weather delay at the start of the tournament.

Though the cut would not be made till the third day, it was clear that four-time major champion Brooks Koepka would miss it for the second straight week. He shot 71-72 to be 3-over as the cut was likely to fall at 1-over.

Trainer, 30, won the Puerto Rico Open in 2019 as a rookie and has made only nine cuts in 70 starts on the PGA TOUR since then.

Tway had a pair of eagles in his 64.

Jason Kokrak was 8 under with seven holes left. Adam Long was another stroke back after a 67.

The day belonged to Scottie Scheffler, who had a 62 and was four shots behind in the group that included fellow Texas Longhorn Kramer Hickok.

Also Read : Tvesa Malik grabs a Top-10 finish in Aramco Series in Jeddah

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Kaec, Nov 13 (Golf news) Indian golfer Tvesa Malik carded a fine three-under 68 in the final round to finish tied 10th in the individual segment of the Aramco Team Series Jeddah, her first top-10 finish after more than three months.

Malik finished with a creditable 10-under 206 in the individual segment. However, her team finished T-18.

Diksha Dagar, part of the winning team in the Aramco series event in London, was T-38 with rounds of 68-73-72.

Tvesa, who was bogey free in her round of 67 on the second day had five birdies against one bogey for 68 in the third and final round.

Team Pedersen claimed victory at the Aramco Team Series – Jeddah after they beat Team Lydia Hall in a two-hole playoff at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club.

The quartet of Emily Kristine Pedersen, Hannah Burke, Krista Bakker and amateur Ahmed Al Subaey began the day five shots behind the overnight leaders and produced a final round of -18 to reach a total of 51-under-par.

With the floodlights turned on in Jeddah, captain Pedersen headed back down to the 18th to compete in a playoff against Lydia Hall, with an eagle on the second playoff hole for the Dane ensuring she won the Team event for the second successive year.

It was a second LET title for England's Burke, with her last coming back in 2015 at the Tipsport Golf Masters in the Czech Republic, while it was a first for Finland’s Bakker.

But it was on holes one to nine where they picked up momentum, with the quartet of Lydia Hall, Becky Brewerton, Luiza Altmann and amateur Victor Green – a former NFL player – coming in 10-under in their final six holes to also be 51-under-par.

Slovenia's Pia Babnik secured the Aramco Team Series – Jeddah individual title with a birdie on 18 sealing the victory on 16-under-par.

The 17-year-old fired rounds of 70, 65 and 65 to clinch her second LET title of the year while Team Babnik finished third on 50-under-par.

Germany's Olivia Cowan ended the individual tournament in second place one shot back having found the water on the 18th hole with Hall and Carlota Ciganda finishing T3.

England's Georgia Hall was in fifth place on 12-under with four players T6 including 2021 Race to Costa del Sol champion Atthaya Thitikul, Dubai Moonlight Classic winner Bronte Law, 2021 AIG Women's Open champion Anna Nordqvist and England’s Gabriella Cowley.

India's Tvesa Malik, Australian Stephanie Kyriacou and Finland's Sanna Nuutinen rounded out the top ten on -10.

Also Read : Jeev misses the cut at Jeev Invitational; Shiv, Rashid share lead

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Chandigarh, Nov 12 (Golf News) Tournament host Jeev Milkha Singh missed the cut while Shiv Kapur and Rashid Khan were tied for the top spot at the halfway stage of the Jeev Milkha Singh Invitational Presented by TAKE Sports at the Chandigarh Golf Club here on Friday.

While Dubai-based Shiv (64-68) went bogey-free for the second day in succession with a four-under 68, Delhi-based Rashid (65-67) brought in a card of five-under 67 featuring seven birdies and two bogeys as both players enjoyed the joint second round lead at 12-under 132.

Chandigarh's Aadil Bedi (68-65) shot the day's best score of seven-under 65 to move up five spots to third place at 11-under 133.

The cut came down at even-par 144 and 60 professionals and two amateurs managed to get in for weekend rounds.

Jeev (75-72), however, missed the cut despite a steady even-par 72 in round two. He totalled three-over 147 for the week.

Shiv, who admitted to being rusty at the start of the week having not played a tournament for about a month, seemed to have shaken off the rust.

The six-time international winner, who began his round from the 10th, had a scrappy start as he made pars on the first six holes. Shiv then found the hole from a range of seven to eight feet for his three consecutive birdies from the 16th through the 18th.

On the front-nine, he was steady with eight pars and a lone birdie on the sixth where he sank his longest putt of the day, a 15-footer.

"I was a bit scrappy today especially on the first six holes as the conditions were a little different in the morning with the ball not travelling too far. It took some time adjusting to the different distances the ball was travelling.

"What I did well was make a number of par putts to keep the momentum of the round going," he said.

"I'm still making a few mental mistakes out there having not played tournament golf for a while. However, if you told me before the start of the week that I'd be bogey-free through 36 holes, I'd take it in a heartbeat." Two-time Asian Tour winner Rashid jumped from overnight third to tied first. Rashid was one-under through the front-nine and then pushed ahead with a four-under on the back-nine. Khan attributed his low score to his good course management.

On the other hand, Bedi, who has just recovered from a wrist injury which kept him out of action from three PGTI events in September, sank a 40-footer for birdie on the 15th and converted four more birdies from a range of 10 to 15 feet.

Olympian Udayan Mane (68) is tied ninth at seven-under 137.

Gaganjeet Bhullar was in tied 34th place at one-under 143.

The two amateurs to make the cut were Aryan Roopa Anand of Bengaluru, who is tied 34th at one-under 143, and US-based Varun Chopra who is tied 51st at even-par 144. 

Also Read : Aditi Ashok lies Tied-14th at Pelican Championship on LPGA

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Florida, Nov 12 (Golf News) India's Aditi Ashok fired a 3-under 67 in the opening round of the Pelican Women's Championship golf tournament at Bellair on the LPGA.

The 23-year-old, who trying to close the last event of the season before the Tour Championship on a big note, is tied-14th alongside former World No. 1 New Zealander Lydia Ko.

Aditi, who is currently lying 85th on the Race to CME Globe rankings, is trying to improve her final position, which will enable her to get into more limited field events.

She had four birdies and no bogeys till the 15th before she dropped a bogey on a day when she found 13 of the 14 fairways and reached 11 of the 18 greens in regulation.

Leona Maguire opened with an under-par round. Her bogey-free, 8-under 62 performance at the Pelican Golf Club was the second-lowest score of her career, bettered only by the 10-under 61 in the 2021 Amundi Evian Championship.

Maguire’s playing partners Sei Young Kim (64) and Lexi Thompson (65) also had solid starts. Kim sits in solo second, two shots behind Maguire, while Thompson leads a bunch of seven tied for third at 5-under. 

Also Read : Lahiri in danger of missing cut after late bogeys in Houston

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Houston (US), Nov 12 (Golf News) Indian golfer Anirban Lahiri was moving along with a series of pars for the first 15 holes before dropping two quick shots in succession to finish at 2-over 72 in the first round of the Hewlett Packard Enterprise Houston Open.

Lahiri with a 72 lies 101st and is in danger of missing yet another cut in the fall season.

The 34-year-old, who has been struggling with consistency for the last few weeks, dropped shots on par-5 16th and Par-4 17th.

He did not hole many of the putts, but was still bogey free as he hit 10 of 13 fairways and 12 of 18 greens in regulation.

There was a four-way tie at the top with Marc Leishman, Russell Henley, Talor Gooch and Luke List finishing at 5-under 65.

List had three more holes to play when darkness stopped play. Rain delayed the start by two and a half hours at Memorial Park. None of the afternoon starters completed play.

On the 576-yard par-5 16th, Lahiri got on to the green in 4 and two-putted for bogey and on the 382-yard par-4 17th, he was on the green in three and two-putted for a bogey.

The 2017 champion Russell Henley seeks to become the first repeat event winner since Vijay Singh in 2005, while Gooch, seeking a fifth consecutive top-15 finish in as many starts this season, recorded seven birdies to open with a 5-under 65.

Leishman opens with his lowest score in 15 rounds in Houston. If List, who holed his second shot from 180 yards for an eagle on Par-4 14th wins, it will be his maiden PGA TOUR win.

Patrick Reed shot a 70 and Lee Westwood also had a 70 in his first event since the Ryder Cup.

Brooks Koepka was even par with nine holes left. His younger brother, Chase, playing on a sponsor exemption, was 3 over through seven holes. 

Also Read : Tvesa rises to T-17 in individual standings at Aramco Team Series

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KAEC (Saudi Arabia), Nov 12 (Golf News) Indian golfer Tvesa Malik produced a superb 5-under 67 with five birdies and no bogeys on the second day to rise to T-17 in the individual standings at the Aramco Team Series here.

Diksha Dagar, who had a good first round, dropped down with a 1-over 73 and was T-33.

However, Diksha’s team led by Major winner Georgia Hall totalled 15-under after their 19-under on first day for a total of 34-under, which placed them third behind Team Manon De Roey (37-under) and Team Stephanie Kyriacou (35-under). Tvesa's Team Malik put up a combined score of 14-under in the second round and the total rose to 21-under.

Team De Roey produced an excellent second day by carding a round of 20-under-par to move to the top.

From the morning starters, it was Team Kyriacou who posted the best round of the day with -22, which is also the best team round of any Aramco Team Series event in 2021, to be in second place with total of 35-under-par.

Team Georgia Hall, who led overnight, backed up their first round with a second round of 15-under-par to move to 34-under overall and be in third place just three shots behind the leaders.

Individually, Major winner Hall is only two shots off the front and produced a round of 68 (-4) to be 11-under-par for the tournament. Leading the individual competition is Germany’s Olivia Cowan, who was the co-leader alongside English star Hall overnight. 

Also Read : Shiv Kapur, Abhijit Singh Chadha share round one lead

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Chandigarh, Nov 11 (Golf news) Six-time international winner Shiv Kapur and Abhijit Singh Chadha got off to flying starts with splendid rounds of eight-under 64 to share the first round lead at the Jeev Milkha Singh Invitational 2021 golf tournament, Presented by TAKE Sports here on Thursday.

While Dubai-based Kapur had a bogey-free day, two-time PGTI winner Chadha, playing at his home course, fired an eagle, seven birdies and a bogey.

Delhi's Rashid Khan produced an impressive error-free seven-under 65 to be placed third.

The 39-year-old Kapur, who has had a few starts on the European Tour this year, picked up his first birdie of the day on the fifth hole and didn't look back thereafter as he collected seven more birdies, including two on the 16th and 17th.

Interestingly, Kapur had enjoyed a similar start at the 2018 edition of the event when he had shot a first round of 65 to be the joint leader.

"I was solid all the way round. I didn't birdie two of the short par-5s and left a couple of putts out there but overall it was a clean card with no bogeys. I also holed my fair share of putts," Kapur said.

"I hit lots of fairways and all 18 greens in regulation. However, it's a long way to go and I will look to try and build from here.

"I've not played enough competitive golf of late, so I was worried about being a little bit rusty. But the good start to the week helped me shake off the rust. This is a great tune-up for me ahead of the restart of the Asian Tour in a couple of weeks from now." The 30-year-old Chadha, who began his round from the 10th tee, recorded a 64 courtesy his hot putter. After sinking his first birdie on the 13th, the tall and lanky golfer added an eagle, six more birdies and a bogey to his card. He sank a 45-footer on the fifth and a 30-feet putt on the seventh.

The newly-married Chadha, said, "The two 30-feet plus putts were the highlight of the round. It's been a slow season for me but I've worked a lot on my putting and things are coming together now. Playing in home conditions also always helps." Chandigarh's Yuvraj Singh Sandhu, the seasoned Gaurav Ghei of Delhi, Kshitij Naveed Kaul, another Delhi-based player and Gurugram's Tapy Ghai were all in tied fourth place, having shot scores of 67.

Aadil Bedi was the third Chandigarh player in the top-10 as he struck a 68 to be tied eighth.

Among the marquee names in the field, Jyoti Randhawa, SSP Chawrasia, Udayan Mane and former champion Ajeetesh Sandhu of Chandigarh carded 69s to be tied 12th while Gaganjeet Bhullar and former champion S Chikkarangappa were a further shot back in tied 26th place.

Chandigarh's Karandeep Kochhar, the defending champion and PGTI Order of Merit leader, shot a 72 to be tied 50th.

Tournament host Jeev Milkha Singh, who had good friends and fellow Chandigarh professionals Amritinder Singh and Gurbaaz Mann as his playing partners, returned a 75 to be placed tied 89th.

Jeev said, "I was pleasantly surprised that I turned at even-par despite being so rusty. I managed myself quite well off the tee and kept it in play.

"On the front-nine I made three bogeys from the centre of the fairway so that was a little disappointing and just showed that my iron-play was patchy today. I'm looking forward to a better second round.

"I had a good time out there with Amritinder and Gurbaaz as we relived the old memories. We were serious where we needed to be and at other times we joked around and egged each other on and pushed each other for better shots."

Also Read : Lahiri recovers from early errors to stay inside Top-20 in Mexico

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Abu Dhabi, Nov 10 (Golf News) Young Indian golfer Anika Varma shot a flawless three-under 69 in the opening round to grab the tied fifth spot at the Women's Amateur Asia-Pacific (WAAP) here on Wednesday.

The 17-year-old US-based golfer, who burst into the limelight with a sensational fifth place finish as a 15-year-old at the 2019 Hero Women's Indian Open, picked up birdies on the par-3 fourth and seventh holes, followed by another on the 10th.

Varma was the best-placed Indian and three shots behind Thailand's 'Ms 300 yards', Natthakritta Vongtaveelap, who enjoyed a two-shot lead after a brilliant six-under par 66 that featured seven birdies.

Eight Indian girls are in contention at the Abu Dhabi Golf Club's National course – two of them nominated by host nation UAE.

Purdue University star Sifat Sagoo and 15-year-old Avani Prashanth, of Bengaluru, were tied 21st at one-under par.

Sneha Singh, who won both the Junior and Amateur all-India title in 2019, closed at one-over par (T-39). Kriti Chowhan (76, T-60) and Nishna Patel (78, T-68) were the other players in the Indian team.

Varma, who is committed to join the University of Oregon team next year, was happy with her round.

"It was pretty good. I hit my irons well and I was good off the tee. I did not make all the putts, but that's okay. Three birdies in a bogey-free round is always good," said Varma, who grabbed a second place finish in West Coast Women's Amateur in the US in her last WAGR event.

"I am just going back to my room and finishing my assignments. I am not thinking much about the round, and I am not expecting much from tomorrow's round. I don't set any numbers, ust stay in the moment and play.

"I just want to play to the best of my ability. Doesn’t matter if I shoot a five-under or a even-par. As long as I know I gave it my best shot, I am happy." Sagoo, who started from the 10th tee, was coming in nicely at 3-under par, before making late bogeys on the fifth and seventh holes.

"I played well, except for that stretch of holes 5-7. I just became a bit conservative there and paid the price. So, that’s one thing I want to do tomorrow – stay aggressive throughout the round," she added.

Prashanth was two-under par after 17 holes, before failing to make an up-and-down on the par-4 ninth hole – her last.

"That finish was very disappointing. I am a good bunker player and nine times out of 10, I will back myself to make a par from where I was. But I did all right out there and tomorrow is another day," said Prashanth, who has won two Hero Women's Golf Association of India events this season.

Natthakritta, who earned her nickname because of the phenomenal length she generates off the tee and often smashes 300-yard drives in domestic events, made a nervous start that saw her make an early bogey on the par-5 second hole. She was rarely in trouble on the golf course after that.

A group of three players from three different countries – Chun-Wei Wu of Chinese Taipei, Mizuki Hashimoto of Japan and Viera Permada Rosada of Indonesia – were in tied second place at four-under par 68.

A total of 78 players from 16 APGC nations are taking part this week.

WAAP is one of the most important events in the calendar for players from the Asia-Pacific region, with the champion golfer getting guaranteed securing entries in the AIG Women’s Open and The Amundi Evian Championship (both major championships), as well as an invitation to play in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur. 

Also Read : Sneha, Anika ready for big time competitions at women's Amateur Asia-Pacific

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Abu Dhabi, Nov 10 (Golf News) Sneha Singh and Anika Varma – two of India's most successful amateur golfers – are eager to prove their mettle as they represent the country at this week's Women's Amateur Asia-Pacific (WAAP).

The third edition of the premier regional tournament for amateurs, organised by the R&A and Asia Pacific Golf Confederation (APGC), started at Abu Dhabi Golf Club on Wednesday.

The champion golfer gets guaranteed entry in the AIG Women's Open and The Amundi Evian Championship (both majors), as well as an invitation to play in the Augusta National Women's Amateur.

The Hyderabad-based Sneha, and Anika, who moved to Sacramento in the US for high school and golf, have chosen completely different routes to the championship.

Sneha has become the leading Indian player at No.153 on WAGR by playing extensively in domestic amateur tournaments and the occasional Hero Women's Golf Association of India Tour, in which she has won three titles playing against the professionals in the last three years.

"I have been playing very well this year, but more than my finishes (three wins and five top-8s in nine starts), what I am really happy about is that I have managed to post good scores," said Sneha.

"It is my first time representing India at such a big stage, and I am just going to enjoy myself and do all the things that I do well on the golf course." Anika, who burst onto the scene with a sensational fifth place finish in the 2019 Hero Women's Indian Open, is still in school and has committed to play for University of Oregon (a top-5 team in US collegiate system).

With not many school events offering WAGR points in the US, her ranking has fallen to No.478, but it did not bother her much.

"It doesn't matter if you have played, or if you haven't played, in the big tournaments. I feel like everything's been going well. It's honestly how you perceive it," said Varma, who is playing her second WAAP.

She had missed the cut in the 2018 edition in Singapore and reached the Round of 32 in this year's prestigious Women's Western Amateur in the US.

"If I think I haven't played any good tournaments and I won't know how I'm going to play, then that's how I'd think. But if you think like, oh, I'm in great condition, I've been working hard, and I've been putting 100 per cent, then you are going to play well anyway." India has eight players in the field, led by WAGR No.153 Sneha Singh of Hyderabad.

The Indian team has six players – Singh, Avani Prashanth, No.259 Sifat Sagoo, No.478 Anika Varma, No.658 Kriti Chowhan and No.707 Nishna Patel.

Two other Indians – Natalii Gupta and Hannah Cheryl Allan – have been nominated by the Emirates Golf Federation (EGF).

The tournament, organised by the R&A and the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation (APGC), features six of the top-30 players in the world, with Korea’s Youmin Hwang, No.4 on the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) and China’s world No.7 Xiaowen Yin the top-ranked players. 

Also Read : In-form Avani confident ahead of Women's Asia-Pacific Amateur golf

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Abu Dhabi, Nov 9 (Golf News) Coming off a win on the Hero Women's Golf Association of India (WGAI) Tour, in-form Avani Prashanth is brimming with confidence as she competes at the third edition of the Women's Amateur Asia-Pacific (WAAP) beginning here on Wednesday.

The premier regional tournament for amateurs, which is being played at Abu Dhabi Golf Club, features 79 players from 24 countries.

The champion golfer gets guaranteed entry in the AIG Women's Open and The Amundi Evian Championship (both majors), as well as an invitation to play in the Augusta National Women's Amateur.

Besides Prashanth, India has seven other players in the field, including WAGR No.153 Sneha Singh of Hyderabad.

The Indian team has six players – Singh, Prashanth, No.259 Sifat Sagoo, No.478 Anika Varma, No.658 Kriti Chowhan and No.707 Nishna Patel. Two other Indians – Natalii Gupta and Hannah Cheryl Allan – have been nominated by the Emirates Golf Federation (EGF).

The Bengaluru-based Prashanth, only 15, has in fact won twice on the Hero WGAI Tour and is ready to take on the cream of Asian golfer in her WAAP debut.

"It feels great, coming off a win, and more importantly, having shot some pretty good scores," said the 15-year-old, who finished second in Chandigarh event of the WGAI Tour.

"I'm super excited to represent India for the first time. The golf course is amazing, too. And knowing what the winner gets, it just adds to all the excitement." Prashanth, a student at Greenwood High in Bengaluru, said tournaments like this pushes one to work that much harder and play that much better.

"I have been targeting this tournament, the Queen Sirikit Cup and the Asian Games in all the planning that I have done with my dad during the lockdown last year, so to be able to be finally here is very satisfying." In 13 events this year on the Indian Golf Union (IGU) circuit and the Hero WGAI Tour, Prashanth has remarkably finished inside the top-9 in each one of them.

She credits the improvement in her game to the hard work she put in during the lockdown period last year and the online coaching she did with the UK-based Laurence Brotheridge.

"I have a launch monitor at home and we worked a lot on my driving distance and my swing speed during the lockdown, while hitting balls into a net.

"My driving distance went up from like a carry of 220 yards to 255 now. And the swing speed also went from 91 to around 98. I am probably one of the longest hitters on the WGAI now," Prashanth explained.

The tournament, organised by the R&A and the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation (APGC), features six of the top-30 players in the world, with Korea's Youmin Hwang, No.4 on the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) and China’s world No.7 Xiaowen Yin the top-ranked players. 

Also Read : Tvesa finishes T-9, aims for strong end to season

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KAEC (Saudi Arabia), Nov 9 (Golf News) Indian golfer Tvesa Malik carded a final round 68 to finish a creditable tied ninth, her second top-10 outing in less than four months, at the Aramco Saudi Ladies International here.

The Indian added 68 to her earlier rounds of 74-60-67 to finish 10-under 278.

Tvesa, who had four Top-10s in the first nine events of the season, slowed down a bit after that, though she was T-11 at Swiss Ladies and T-12 at Open de France and T-19 in Dubai. She had finished runner-up at Gant Ladies Open in July.

The latest Top-10 will help her aim for a strong finish in the final two events of the LET season.

Aditi Ashok closed the week with 68 and was 9-under 279 and T-13, while Diksha Dagar had missed the cut.

New Zealand’s Lydia Ko fired a final round of 65 to triumph by five shots.

Ko, who is seventh in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, began the day on 16-under-par and started well with a birdie on the first. She totalled 23-under.

Tvesa had an action-packed final round with eight birdies, but her aggressive play also led to four bogeys.

Aditi was 5-under through 10 and then dropped just one bogey but had no more birdies.

The two-time Major winner, Ko, continued her fine form with birdies at five and seven before she sank an eagle putt on the par-five ninth to make the turn in 5-under 31.

Another birdie on the 10th gave Ko a six-shot lead and she rolled in her final birdie on the 13th to post a winning total of 23-under-par.

Thailand’s Atthaya Thitikul had another successful week on the Tour with a second-place finish after a final round of 66 (-6).

Thitikul now has an unassailable lead in the 2021 Race to Costa del Sol with 3,264.46 points to her name. The Thai star became the youngest ever winner of the Race to Costa Del Sol.

Tied for third place on 13-under-par was Spaniard Carlota Ciganda and England’s Alice Hewson, who shot rounds of 68 and 69, respectively. Germany’s Olivia Cowan and Australia’s Whitney Hillier finished in a share of fifth place on 12-under-par after shooting rounds of 66 and 67, respectively. 

Also Read : Lahiri recovers from early errors to stay inside Top-20 in Mexico

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Playa Del Carmen, Nov 7 (Golf news) India's Anirban Lahiri recovered from a nightmarish start to card one-under 71 in the third round to lie tied 17th at the World Wide Technology golf Championship at Mayakoba here.

Lahiri, who shot 67-66 on the first two days, dropped a bogey and a double bogey on the second and third holes but managed to salvage the day with five birdies before a late bogey left a bad taste.

He was 10-under after day 3 and was down from overnight T-5th.

Playing in the same group as Lahiri, the defending champion Viktor Hovland, had four birdies on the front nine and five on the back nine, including two on 17 and 18 for a nine-under 62.

At 19-under, Hovland has a two-shot lead over Talor Gooch.

Lahiri was disappointed with the round, but happy to have recovered from where he was after three holes.

"I actually felt really good (before the round), but got off to a horror start. Lost my concentration on the second hole and made a bad swing on the third hole and kind of compounded some errors.

"To be 3-over after three on this golf course, you're putting yourself in a really tough spot. Especially that front nine is where you have to try and maximize." Lahiri said he gathered himself and clawed his way back in time. "After the third hole I played pretty solid, more like how I've been playing. A little frustrating to finish weak. Hit an average shot on 16 and got a really bad lie in the bunker, got plugged.

"Then on 17 I hit a good drive and didn't capitalize after having a pretty good look at birdie. So all in all it's quite disappointing." Asked how he could make up on the final day, Lahiri said, "If you're playing your A-game, you can shoot anything. It was a pleasure going out with Viktor (Hovland) today. He didn't putt that well, to be honest. He could have shot 59 today as easily as he shot a 62.

"That's what this golf course allows you to do. You get off to a good start, build that momentum and try and keep making birdies and just go as low as you can." Hovland goes for his third PGA TOUR title and leads by two over Gooch (63), and he was three clear of Justin Thomas (64).

Matthew Wolff, who was two shots clear after 36 holes, made a pair of bogeys early and had only one birdie in his 73.

Scottie Scheffler had a good start but a double bogey on the 14th pushed him seven behind.

Also Read : Tvesa shoots bogey free 67, rises to ninth in Saudi International

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KAEC (Saudi Arabia), Nov 7 (Golf news) Indian golfer Tvesa Malik strung together a superb bogey free round of 5-under 67 to enter the Top-10 of the Aramco Saudi Ladies International here.

Tvesa, who has been enduring a lean period over the last few weeks after a superb start to the season, is now 6-under following rounds of 74-69 on the first two days.

She is lying Tied-9th, as World number seven Lydia Ko produced a scorching round of 63 to claim a four-shot lead on the third day.

Aditi Ashok also turned in a steady 3-under 69, the same as the second day, and she was 5-under and Tied-12th but the third Indian in the field, Diksha Dagar (74-74) missed the cut.

Tvesa, whose best on the Ladies European Tour has been a runner-up finish at the Gant Ladies Open, birdied first, third, ninth, 13th and 18th. It was also a big relief for her that she took advantage of the Par-5s, as she birdied three of the four.

Aditi was also bogey free and birdied three times, on the ninth, 13th and 18th, which are all Par-5s.

Kiwi Ko equalled the course record at the Royal Greens Golf & Country Club to move to 16-under-par for the tournament.

Ko dropped a shot on the third hole but then made three consecutive birdies on holes four through six.

The 24-year-old added three birdies in a row around the turn, before rolling in three more on 13, 14 and 15 and a final birdie on the 17th.

Four shots behind Ko is 2021 Race to Costa del Sol leader Thai teenager Atthaya Thitikul, who carded her best round of the week so far with a 7-under 65.

The 18-year-old has a chance to seal the Race to Costa del Sol crown this week as she has a 1,446.69-point lead over Finland’s Sanna Nuutinen.

Overnight leader Alice Hewson had a difficult start to her third day. The Englishwoman shot a round of 71 to be six shots behind the leader and in third place.

Tvesa is tied for ninth with England’s Georgia Hall and Germany’s Olivia Cowan, who are all ten shots back from Ko in T9.

Also Read : Jaglan finishes 11th, Japan's Nakajima win Asia Pacific in a play-off\

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Dubai, Nov 6 (Golf news) Shubham Jaglan played his fourth straight under par round at the 12th Asia Pacific Amateur Championship to end Tied-11th, the third best finish by an Indian in 12 editions of the event.

Jaglan did have four birdies but he also missed a lot of makeable putts. He also had two dropped two shots.

His rounds of 70-68-69-69 saw him total 8-under 276 and placed just outside the top-10.

It was a finish that will surely see him move up well from his current World Amateur Golf Ranking of 483.

Of the other two Indians, who made the cut, Milind Soni (76) crumbled at the end with a bogey-triple bogey finish and was T-41, after being around T25 for the first three days. Akshay Neranjan (76) closed with a double bogey at the end to be T-45th.

Rohan Dhole Patil, Arjun Gupta, Arkesh Bhatia and Aryan Roopa Anand missed the cut.

Meanwhile, World No. 1 amateur Keita Nakajima lived up to the billing of being the favourite.

He booked himself a berth at the 2022 Masters and the 2022 Open Championship at St. Andrews by winning a play-off on the second extra hole over Hong Kong’s Taichi Kho, a surprise star, who was denied a present ahead of his 21st birthday next Saturday.

Jaglan, at one stage looked set even for a Top-5 as he was 3-under through 10 holes.

"My game was really good for the first few holes. I was hitting it really close and gave myself a lot of good chances. So, I worked it to 3-under par through 10 but it was also frustrating because though I was giving myself a lot of good chances, I didn't convert many putts," said Jaglan.

"After the bogey on 13, I had a good look at 14 and did not make it - it was only six feet. And I three-putted 17 as well. So it was kind of a slow round. Yet overall I am happy." "This is the biggest tournament I've played in my career, and I'm very happy with the way I played and I felt calm throughout the four rounds." Hong Kong’s Kho (65) lying T-5 overnight turned in a dramatic six-hole run with five birdies between ninth and 14th and set the target of 14-under. Nakajima, who held a one-shot lead over two-time champion Yuxin Lin (71), also had a four-shot lead over Kho, who was not in the picture till the back nine.

China's Jin Bo (68), whose brother won AAC in 2015, and Korea’s Cho Wooyoung (65) were Tied-third.

Defending champion Yuxin Lin gunning for a third title, ended T-7 after a triple and a double bogey.

Also Read :Aditi, Tvesa make cut easily at Saudi International

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KAEC (Saudi Arabia), Nov 6 (Golf news) India's Aditi Ashok and Tvesa Malik made the cut with improved cards in their second round at the Aramco Saudi Ladies International here.

Aditi shot 3-under 69 after looking set for a much better score, while Tvesa also carded 3-under 69.

Aditi at 2-under total was tied 16th, while Tvesa with 1-under aggregate was tied 27th. England's Alice Hewson rose to the top of the leaderboard with a second round 64.

Diksha Dagar (74-74), at 4-over, is likely to miss the cut, which is expected to fall at 3-over.

Aditi opened with a birdie and then, despite a bogey on second, she rolled three birdies in a row from fourth to sixth and added one more on eighth to turn in 3-under 33.

On the back nine she had birdies on 11th and 13th to get to 5-under for the day, before she dropped a double bogey on Par-3 16th.

Tvesa bogeyed Par-5 fourth, but three birdies in four holes between sixth and ninth saw her turn in 2-under. Two birdies, including one on 18th, against one bogey saw her finish at 69.

Hewson began the day at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club on one-under-par, and kicked off her round with a birdie on the first, despite dropping a shot on the third. Hewson rolled in birdies on six and ninth to make the turn in 34 (-2). Then she had six further birdies on the back nine to propel herself to the top of the leaderboard on 9-under-par.

Finland's Sanna Nuutinen carded a 7-under 65 to be at 8-under-par for the tournament. She is in second place, ahead of Lydia Ko (67-70), Caroline Hedwall (71-66) and Linnea Strom (68-69).

The top 10 is rounded off by five players who sit four shots behind leader Hewson on five-under-par including Spain's Carlota Ciganda.

Also Read : Bogey-free 66 takes Lahiri to fifth in Mexico

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Playa Del Carmen (Mexico), Nov 6 (Golf news) India's Anirban Lahiri followed up his solid first round with a superb bogey-free second round of 5-under 66 that placed him tied fifth at the halfway stage of the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba.

After going with pars for his first nine holes on the back nine as he started from the 10th, Lahiri had five birdies on his second nine, the front side of the El Camaleon course.

Lahiri made nine pars from the 10th and then birdied 1, 4, 5, 6 and 8 for a second round 66 to move up to 9-under. He was four behind leader Matt Wolff (61-68) who is 13-under.

"I think I played pretty well both days, but I was more consistent today I think. Yesterday, I just dropped loose shorts. A couple of shots that I dropped yesterday were from the fairway and I was a little disappointed. Today I was very happy to go bogey free. I think it was important," Lahiri said.

"I think conditions were definitely favourable for scoring this morning. I think this golf course has two different aspects to it. The front nine is obviously is the side that has two par fives and probably a little easier. So, it's important to take advantage of that.

"And I think on the backline there's a couple of challenging holes. And outside of that, you know, you can still make quite a few birdies in." Lahiri is searching for his career's first TOUR win in his 145th start and first top-10 of the season. His best in three outings at Mayakoba is tied 10th in 2018. He was also tied 14th in 2017 and tied 28th in 2016. He has missed two cuts in three starts so far this season.

Wolff looked set for a big lead before he dropped two late bogeys and finished 3-under 68 and moved to 13-under. He was still two ahead of Scottie Scheffler (64).

A day after shooting 10-under 61, Wolff birdied all the par 5s at El Camaleon for the second straight day. He was 15 under at one stage before the bogeys on 16 and 18 saw him come back to 13-under.

Scheffler, who performed well in majors and in the Ryder Cup but is still looking for his first PGA TOUR win, had a good run of five straight birdies from fourth to eighth in his 64.

Carlos Ortiz of Mexico and defending champion Viktor Hovland of Norway each had 65 and were three shots behind.

Hovland overcame a double bogey which was a result of a freak bounce taking it out of bounds. He made up quickly with five birdies on front nine and three more on second nine for six-under 65.

Brooks Koepka made a triple bogey in his 71 and missed the cut. Rickie Fowler played the par 5s on the front nine with a bogey and a double bogey and parred the par-5 13th. He was outside the cut until a birdie on the 17th helped him make 72 and made the cut at 4-under 138.

Ten players were in a tie for fifth at 9-under 135, a group that included Justin Thomas.

Also Read : Lahiri starts with a solid 67, lies T-20th in Mexico

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Dubai, Nov 5 (Golf news) Shubham Jaglan negotiated the tough closing stretch at the Dubai Creek Golf and Country Club with two birdies and a superb par to card 2-under 69 in the third round of the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship.

With three straight rounds under par (70-68-69), the 17-year-old Jaglan is 6-under for 54 holes and five behind the leader World No. 1 Keita Nakajima (67).

At T-13th, he has a great chance for a Top-10 finish.

The other two Indians who made the cut -- Milind Soni and Akshay Neranjan shot 71 each and were placed T-24 and T-37 respectively.

Nakajima (67) moved to the top of the leaderboard and held a slender one-shot lead over the two-time champion Lin Yuxin of China and the overnight leader Jin Bo (69), who is trying to emulate his brother Jin Cheng by winning the AAC.

Jin Cheng won in 2015 and Bo accompanied him to Augusta National.

"It was pretty good. I was nervous going into the round knowing I was going to play with Puwit (Anupansuebsai). He's a really good college golfer and somebody I look up to, so it was a pleasure playing with him," Jaglan, who had four birdies against two bogeys, said.

“I got off to a solid start, hit the green on the first seven holes in a row, so that settled me into the round. I didn't hole too many putts. I gave myself some good opportunities and the wind was up a little bit today.

“I sort of hung in there and kept giving myself good opportunities and came back with birdies on 15 and 16, which was pretty good. I saved a good par on 18,” he added.

Milind, who has been fighting weakness once again saw his mind win over body, as he had three birdies and three bogeys in first 11 holes, but played par on last seven.

Meanwhile, Akshay was making a good move at 2-under without any bogeys in first 15 holes, but dropped a shot each on 16 and 18 for an even par 71.

The day’s best card came from Kho Taichi (64), which equalled this week’s best shot earlier by Jin Bo and Thailand’s Puwit in the second round.

Kho is fifth, one behind Korea’s Sam Choi (69). Puwit is T-6 alongwith three others Yuki Moriyama of Japan, Australian Andre Lautee and Japan’s Leo Oyo.

Also Read : Jaglan moves up to Tied 15th at Asia-Pacific golf, Soni at T22

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(Football news) After his semi successful loan spell at Tottenham Hotspur last season, Gareth Bale returned to Real Madrid. Returning Manager Carlo Ancelotti decided to give Bale a chance in the side as he started the Welshman in Real Madrid's first 3 La Liga games. Bale played really well and even got himself a goal. 

In the World Cup qualifiers he scored a hat-trick to seal a very crucial victory 3-2 for Wales against Belarus. He played the full 90 minutes in the very next game which was a 0-0 draw against Estonia but returned to Madrid with a hamstring injury. Gareth Bale has finally returned to full training after a 2 month absence. Real Madrid's next game is at the Bernabeu against Rayo Vallecano on Saturday where Ancelotti might not want to risk Bale. Wales have two very important World Cup qualifiers against Belarus and Belgium on 14th and 17th November and Bale will definitely play most if not all minutes in those games. Therefore giving Bale minutes against Rayo will not be in his best interest.

At Real Madrid, Gareth Bale is like a hero turned villain. Los Blancos broke the world transfer record to bring Bale from Tottenham Hotspur. He went on to achieve incredible feats with them and formed a deadly attacking trio with Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo. Since 2018 Bale's Real Madrid career has had ups and downs, mostly the latter. Injuries and inconsistency have heavily affected that but his off field antics are also the reason. Bad attitude along with him waving a flag that said 'Wales, Golf, Madrid, in that order' which suggested that Real Madrid was never his priority. Bale never apologized for it and eventually signed for Tottenham on loan.

Also read: Liverpool win 4 out of 4 to qualify for the UCL knockouts from the 'Group of Death'

Now in the final year of his contract it is almost certain that Bale will not stay at Real Madrid after this season. Real Madrid don't have a nailed on right winger in the side and if the Welsh Wizard does manage to stay fit and get in some decent performances he could leave the Bernabeu on a high. There have also been rumours that Bale is planning to retire from football after the World Cup. His illustrious career at Real Madrid certainly deserves a grand ending. Real Madrid, Gareth Bale and the fans will all be hoping that Bale does well in whatever is left of his Real Madrid career. 

Dubai, Nov 4 (Golf news) Shubham Jaglan and Milind Soni, who had different problems to contend with before the start of the 12th Asia Pacific Amateur Golf Championship, were the best performing Indians at the halfway stage of the event.

Jaglan (70-68) is placed Tied-15th, up from T-24th and Soni (71-69) is T-22nd. Apart from them, Akshay Neranjan (74-69) at T-42nd made the cut.

Jaglan, who is at the University of South Florida, flew across the world from the United States and then spent a good part of Tuesday waiting for his Covid test.

By the time it did come, it was getting dark allowing him just some range practice and one hole of play on the practice day.

On the other hand, Soni, travelling outside India for the first time, was not even sure if he could tee up after a bout of food poisoning on Tuesday evening.

Rohan Dhole Patil (72-73) bogeyed the 18th and fell outside the cutline by one. He was Tied-51st and only Top-50 and ties made the cut.

Also missing out were Arkesh Bhatia (74-72), who was T-55th, while Aryan Roopa Anand (75-73) and Arjun Gupta (75-73) were T-58th.

Jaglan was four shots behind the new leader, China’s Bo Jin, who had the day’s best card of 7-under.

"I got to play yesterday (first round) so I was so used to the tee shot and the wind was down as well and rough is not punishing. I also felt my putting was way better than yesterday.

"The greens were a little faster today, which I liked, because most of the college events are played on fast greens. So I felt more comfortable," said Jaglan.

Bo Jin (70-64) is 8-under and seeks to emulate his brother, Cheng Jin, who won the AAC title in 2015.

While his brother, Cheng, was a logical inspiration, Bo also had the benefit of advice from India’s Rayhan Thomas, the record holder at the Dubai Creek course.

Thomas, runner-up at AAC in 2018, is Bo’s colleague at the University of Oklahoma. Thomas holds the course record of 61, including a world record run of nine birdies in a pro event.

Five players including World No. 1 amateur, Keita Nakajima (67-68), one of the seven overnight leaders, were second at one shot behind.

The others are Korea’s Kim Baekjun, Sam Choi and Cho Wooyoung and Australian Connor McKinney. Two-time champion Yuxin Lin (67-71) double bogeyed the last and fell to T-15. The 16-year-old Hyderabad-based Soni making his India debut acquitted himself well with an even par 71 in first round and added 2-under 69 in the second to get to 2-under to be T-22nd.

"I am feeling weak because I was unwell earlier. I lost a few yards off the tee. On the first day my first goal was to complete 18 holes and I got a par round.

"Today, I could have played better than 2-under, it should have three or four under. I missed a few putts. I am feeling very tired but way better than the first day." 

Alos Read : Lahiri starts with a solid 67, lies T-20th in Mexico

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Playa Del Carmen (Mexico), Nov 5 (Golf news) India's Anirban Lahiri carded a fine 4-under 67 that placed him Tied-20th at the end of the opening round of the World Wide Technology Golf Championship here.

On a course that gave a lot of birdie chances, Lahiri struck four on the front nine and three more on the second nine of the course at El Camaleon. But he also dropped three shots between 12th and 17th.

Matthew Wolff fired a 10-under 61 to match his career low on the PGA TOUR. It gave him a two-shot lead.

Aaron Wise finished at 8-under 63. Chris Kirk was a stroke adrift at shot 7-under 64.

Lahiri is making his fourth start at Mayakoba. He birdied four times on third, fourth and seventh and eighth to turn in 4-under. When he birdied the 10th, he was five-under, but dropped shots on 12th, 14th and 17th. He also added birdies on 13th and 15th.

Lahiri's previous finishes here include a T-10 in 2018, he was T-14 in 2017 and T-28 in 2016.

Viktor Hovland, who is trying to become the first man to successfully defend the title at Mayakoba, also opened with 4-under 67.

Sergio Garcia and Talor Gooch had the low scores from the afternoon session and joined Kirk and Billy Horschel at 64.

Also Read : Atwal finishes 71st at in Bermuda Championship

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Kaec (Saudi Arabia), Nov 5 (Golf news) Indian golfers Aditi Ashok, Tvesa Malik and Diksha Dagar were off to modest starts as they turned in over-par cards in the opening round of the Aramco Saudi Ladies International here.

On a day when play was delayed by an hour due to morning fog at Royal Greens Golf and Country Club, Aditi (73) was the leading Indian at T-40th, while Tvesa and Diksha carded 2-over 74 each and were T-53rd.

Spain's Carlota Ciganda and New Zealand's Lydia Ko shared the lead after the opening day. Both shot 5-under 67 and led by one.

Aditi had two birdies against three bogeys, while Tvesa stumbled to four bogeys, but she did have an eagle on Par-5 13th.

Diksha had three bogeys against one birdie.

Ko, who began her round on the 10th tee, took advantage of the morning conditions carding six birdies and one bogey for a round of 67 (-5) to post the best score.

The two-time Major winner put on a fine display of iron play and it helped her ensure a solid start.

From the afternoon groups, it was three-time Solheim Cup winner Ciganda who climbed to the top of the standings.

Ciganda, a four-time winner on the LET, got off to a stunning start with six birdies and one bogey on her front nine to make the turn in 31.

With the wind picking up in her final nine holes, Ciganda dropped a shot on the 17th but birdied 18th to also finish on 5-under-par.

Three players are in a share of third place including Swedish duo Johanna Gustavsson and Linnea Strom, who both shot rounds of 68. The Swedish duo was joined by Switzerland's Kim Metraux.

Also Read : Indian amateurs dream of passage to Masters and Open from Asia Pacific

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Dubai, Nov 3 (Golf news) Rohan Dhole Patil, India's highest ranked amateur golfer in the field, was not clear that a win at the 12th Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship would get him into both the Masters and The Open next year. In contrast, his teammates Aryan Roopa Anand and Shubham Jaglan have thought about nothing else but this reward.

They are part of the six-member Indian team, which is also joined by another Dubai-based India and all are making their debut at AAC, which starts on Wednesday.

The team is Rohan Dholepatil (25), Arjun Gupta (17), Akshay Neranjan (20), Shubham Jaglan (17), the 2019 All India Amateur winner Aryan Roopa Anand (19) and Milind Soni (16).

Yet another Indian, Arkesh Bhatia has made the field as a nomination from the Emirates Golf Association.

The 19-year-old Bengalurean Aryan, who won the 2019 All India Amateur Championships, said, "It was surreal (when told that he would be in the Indian team for AAC), because this is I think one of the biggest events in amateur golf for people on the Asian side.

"It's my dream to be in the Masters and The Open. This is an opportunity to do that. I was elated, I was very excited. I got to know about this a month and a half prior, and it's the only thing I could look forward to." He admitted he has been training with this event in mind for the last month and more.

"...it's been a good two months. A lot of trial and error and heading into this week, I know what I need to be doing and I know where my head is." Talking of how he dealt with the pandemic and keeping fit during that period, the Indian amateur champion said, "It was tough. When you're in form you want to play as many events as you want and you want to go out there and compete day in and day out, and obviously we were all locked in our homes.

"So we did a lot of home workouts and chipping in the backyard." "I took it as a blessing in disguise. I worked on the things that we felt we didn't have time to work on. You try and take the positive out of everything, and I feel that is something that we did." On the other hand, Patil, ever since he heard what was at stake, has felt all the more pumped up.

"I have been thinking only about that. I am in good form and I liked the Dubai Creek course and I am raring to go." A latecomer to golf, Patil, who was three times runner-up at Zonal events in India, added, "I began playing golf only in 2008 or so when I was 13-14. I played badminton in my school days and then picked up golf and I liked it it better.

"Originally when I started playing golf, I thought it was an easy sport. Now I have discovered the challenges of the sport and it has become my passion. This is the biggest event I have ever played." Jaglan, 17, a prodigy of sorts, who came from a family of wrestlers, went to United States for college.

"Even though I love golf, what if golf were not there. I had an injury and then came COVID.

"Playing for college, where it is very competitive, has made me solid," added Jaglan, who arrived late on Monday and missed the practice round as he had to take a COVID test and wait for results.

The annual championship, which offers a spot on two of the most prestigious major championships next year – the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club and The Open at St Andrews" Old Course – was not held in 2020 due to the pandemic.

Also Read : Teen amateurs in Indian team seek life-changing experience at Asia-Pacific golf

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Dubai, Nov 1 (Golf news) Two Indian teen-aged golfers are hoping to have a life-changing week when they tee up at the 12th edition of the storied Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship, commencing at the Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club on Wednesday.

The shy and soft-spoken Dubai-based Arjun Gupta, and the self-taught Shubham Jaglan, who has lived a life under the spotlight as a child prodigy since the age of six, hope to take the next big step in their golf careers.

Gupta and Jaglan, both 17, are part of the Indian contingent of AAC debutants.

The annual championship, which offers a spot on two of the most prestigious major championships next year - the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club and The Open at St Andrews’ Old Course - was not held in 2021 due to the pandemic.

Though Gupta played some golf in India three years ago, he is born and brought up in Dubai, where his parents live and work.

The other Indians in the field are Rohan Dholepatil (25), Akshay Neranjan (20), 2019 All India Amateur winner Aryan Roopa Anand (19) and Milind Soni (16).

Arkesh Bhatia, who holds Indian nationality, is playing this week on a nomination from the Emirates Golf Association.

Though Gupta played some golf in India three years ago, he is born and brought up in Dubai, where his parents live and work. Jaglan grew up in a family of wrestlers in a village called Israna in Haryana but is now a freshman at the University of Florida.

Gupta, who reached the Round of 16 at the US Junior Amateurs, is quite experienced as he has also played in European Tour events in Abu Dhabi and secured a fourth-place finish in Jordan on the MENA pro tour in the Middle East.

He was also the winner of the Faldo Series Middle East in 2019 and runner-up at the Grand Final. Interestingly, his twin sister, Natalii will play in the Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific Championship in Abu Dhabi next week.

A huge fan of Rory McIlroy, Gupta said, "I have been preparing for this event ever since I heard I was in the list. I know about the AAC and it was cool to see the flags with pictures of the winners of previous editions." "I saw the picture of Hideki Matsuyama, who won twice, and has now won the Masters, too. That is very inspiring. I want to play my best and have a shot at playing the Masters and the Open.” Jaglan, who learnt the game through watching golf videos on YouTube, later had Arjuna Awardee and well-known Nonita Lall Qureshi as his coach and mentor.

He has also been through some injuries despite his young age but is now in Florida and looking forward to s fruitful career.

Jaglan, a medallist in various age-groups at the IMG World Juniors in San Diego, has also been on Ted Talks and this AAC experience could well be the beginning of a new stage in his career.

The team is accompanied by Farzan Heerjee, a veteran golf official and part of the Indian Golf Union.

Also Read : Aditi top Indian at T-13, Tvesa also finishes in Top-20 in Dubai

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New Delhi, Nov 1 (Sports news) Sports Minister Anurag Thakur on Monday physically handed over trophies to the winners of National Sports Awards 2020 after the award ceremony was held virtually last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

All the winners of the National Sports Awards 2020 had already received their cash awards but were not able to collect their trophies and citation because of the pandemic.

On August 29 last, the Sports Ministry had conferred 74 National Sports Awards, including five Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna (now renamed as Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna) and 27 Arjuna awards.

The notable awardees who attended Monday's ceremony at a city hotel here were women's hockey captain Rani Rampal, star wrestler Vinesh Phogat and 2016 Paralympics gold winner Thangavelu Mariyappan, who were handed the prestigious Khel Ratna.

Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist boxer Lovlina Borgohain, cricketer Ishant Sharma, sprinter Dutee Chand, archer Atanu Das and shuttlers Satwik Sairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Chandrasekhar Shetty were among others who collected their the Arjuna trophies.

"The National Sports Awards is a prestigious award that is won by athletes after years of dedication and hard work. Congratulations to all the awardees and the very best for their future events. The journey of the awardees doesn't end here, there is more to be achieved," Thakur said during the function.

"We must also continue to look for talented athletes, groom them and make them capable of winning medals at the international level. So I request all the athletes to take the pledge of at least grooming and training five such athletes who can win medals for India in the future." The event was also graced by Sports Secretary Sujata Chaturvedi, Youth Affairs Secretary Usha Sharma and other top ministry and SAI officials.

List of National Sports Awardees for 2020: Khel Ratna Award: Rohit Sharma (Cricket), Mariyappan Thangavelu (Para-Athletics), Manika Batra (Table Tennis), Vinesh Phogat (Wrestling), Rani Rampal (Hockey).

Arjuna Award: Atanu Das (Archery), Dutee Chand (Athletics), Satwik Sairaj Rankireddy (Badminton), Chirag Chandrasekhar Shetty (Badminton), Vishesh Bhriguvanshi (Basketball), Manish Kaushik (Boxing), Lovlina Borgohain (Boxing), Ishant Sharma (Cricket), Deepti Sharma (Cricket), Sawant Ajay Anant (Equestrian), Sandesh Jhingan (Football), Aditi Ashok (Golf), Akashdeep Singh (Hockey), Deepika (Hockey), Deepak (Kabaddi), Kale Sarika Sudhakar (Kho Kho), Dattu Baban Bhokanal (Rowing), Manu Bhaker (Shooting), Saurabh Chaudhary (Shooting), Madhurika Patkar (Table Tennis), Divij Sharan (Tennis), Shiva Keshavan (Winter Sports), Divya Kakran (Wrestling), Rahul Aware (Wrestling), Suyash Narayan Jadhav (Para-Swimming), Sandeep (Para-Athletics), Manish Narwal (Para Shooting).

Dronacharya Award (Life-Time Category): Dharmendra Tiwary (Archery), Purushotham Rai (Athletics), Shiv Singh (Boxing), Romesh Pathania (Hockey), Krishan Kumar Hooda (Kabaddi), Vijay Bhalchandra Munishwar (Para Powerlifting), Naresh Kumar (Tennis), Om Parkash Dahiya (Wrestling).

Dronacharya (Regular Category): Jude Felix (Hockey), Yogesh Malviya (Mallakhamb), Jaspal Rana (Shooting), Kuldeep Kumar Handoo (Wushu), Gaurav Khanna (Para Badminton).

Dhyan Chand Award: Kuldip Singh Bhullar (Athletics), Jincy Philips (Athletics), Pradeep Shrikrishna Gandhe (Badminton), Trupti Murgunde (Badminton), N Usha(Boxing), Lakha Singh (Boxing), Sukhvinder Singh Sandhu (Football), Ajit Singh (Hockey), Manpreet Singh (Kabaddi), J Ranjith Kumar (Para-Athletics), Satyaprakash Tiwari (Para Badminton), Manjeet Singh (Rowing), Late Shri Sachin Nag (Swimming), Nandan Bal (Tennis), Netarpal Hooda (Wrestling).

Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Awards: Anita Devi (Land Adventure), Col Sarfraz Singh (Land Adventure), Taka Tamut (Land Adventure), Keval Hiren Kakka (Land Adventure), Satendra Singh (Water Adventure), Gajanand Yadava (Air Adventure), Late Magan Bissa (Life Time Achievement).

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy: Panjab University, Chandigarh.

Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar: Identification and Nurturing of Budding and Young Talent: Lakshya Institute, Army Sports Institute.

Encouragement to sports through Corporate Social Responsibility: Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) Ltd.

Employment of sportspersons and sports welfare measures: Air Force Sports Control Board.

Sports for Development: International Institute of Sports Management (IISM).

Also Read : Sports Ministry to hand over trophies to winners of 2020 National Sports Awards on November 1

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Southampton (Florida), Nov 1 (Golf news) Indian golfer Arjun Atwal finished Tied 71st at the Butterfield Bermuda Championship after returning a card of 71 in the final round, here.

Anirban Lahiri had missed the cut along with Daniel Chopra.

Indian-American Sahith Theegala shot 80 in the final round and was 74th. Kiradech Aphibarnrat (70) was T-34 as the best Asian.

The 25-year-old Australian Herbert, who at one time was 200th in the world and playing on the Asian Tour few years ago, won on his 20th start on the PGA Tour after shooting shot 2-under 69 in the final round.

He had two birdies on 12th and 14th during the tough back nine with the wind blowing at the Port Royal.

Herbert closed with four pars to hold off Danny Lee (71) and Patrick Reed, who finished with four birdies over his last six holes for a 65. He waited to see if it was enough, but it was not as Herbert held his nerve.

His first PGA TOUR victory, and third worldwide, sends him to the Masters for the first time.

Taylor Pendrith of Canada, who started the final round with a three-shot lead, failed to make a birdie in closing with a 76 to tie for fifth. Patrick Rodgers had a 70 and finished alone in fourth.

Also Read : Aditi top Indian at T-13, Tvesa also finishes in Top-20 in Dubai

News Source : PTI

Sharjah, Oct 30 (Cricket news) South Africa captain Temba Bavuma on Saturday said he endured "tense" moments prior to their T20 World Cup match against Sri Lanka as the controversy surrounding Quinton de Kock's refusal to take the knee was at the back of his mind.

Bavuma, though, also expressed relief that his side notched up its second win in the T20 World Cup here.

David Miller's two last-over sixes powered South Africa to a four-wicket victory over Sri Lanka despite a hat-trick by Wanindu Hasaranga in a thrilling Super 12 match.

"It's quite hard to put everything that's happened over the last couple of days. There was a bit of it at the back of the mind but we had a job to do and we had to dig deep. I was a bit tense," Bavuma said at the post-match presentation.

A huge controversy had erupted hours before South Africa's game against West Indies on Tuesday after Cricket South Africa (CSA) issued a sudden directive that all the players must take the knee before every match of the ongoing tournament.

Senior batter de Kock did not wish to comply and chose to pull out of the match but returned for Saturday's game against Sri Lanka after agreeing to perform the gesture in support of the 'Black Lives Matter' (BLM) movement.

Talking about the win, Bavuma said he had confidence in Miller to deliver the goods for his team.

"He (David) hadn't done in a long time for us, credit to him. He's got one of the most beautiful swings, like a golf swing.

"I took on the responsibility to finish it off and the wicket wasn't an easy one but someone had to take it till the end. The shot was on and I was a bit irritated with myself that I wasn't able to execute," said Bavuma who top-scored for South Africa with run-a-ball 46.

Speaking about left-arm spinner Tabraiz Shamsi, who shone with figures of 3/17, Bavuma said, "Shamsi is a big player for us, a weapon, we've seen wrist-spinners are always effective in this format." Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka defended his move to bowl Lahiru Kumara in the final over, in which Miller smashed two sixes and one four to seal the win for South Africa.

"It was enough to defend for Lahiru. He was bowling yorkers and he was superb in the practice games which is why I went with him," said a disappointed Shanaka.

South Africa needed 15 runs from the last over.

"Credit to South Africa batsmen, they finished really well," Shanaka said.

"Nissanka has been classic, he showed in this tournament as well. He's got a bright career and is a real prospect for Sri Lanka ahead. It's really hard for us after this game, next two games we hope to keep our pride."

Also Read : Miller blitzkrieg powers South Africa to four-wicket win

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Dubai, Oct 30 (Golf news) Indian golfer Aditi Ashok finished a highly creditable tied 13th after carding a final round 69 at the Dubai Moonlight Classic here.

Aditi, who had finished fourth at the Tokyo Olympics, had shot rounds of 69-71 on the first two days on the Ladies European Tour event.

Tvesa Malik, who has been having a great season, mirrored her second round 71 for rounds of 70-71-71 and also squeezed into Top-20 at the T-19th place.

Diksha Dagar, one of the only two Indians to have won a LET title, had her best round of the week with a 70 after 72-71 on the first two days. She was T-24th.

Aditi and Diksha had five birdies against two bogeys each, while Tvesa managed five birdies and four bogeys.

A sensational final round of 8-under 64 sealed a one-shot victory for England’s Bronte Law.

It was a superb day in Dubai with 19 players were within six shots of the lead at the Faldo Course at Emirates Golf Club at the end of the second round.

But it was Law who produced one of the rounds of the day to climb up the leaderboard, and her eagle on the 16th saw her post a winning total of 15-under-par.

The 2019 Solheim Cup winner began her round on the 18th on the final day of the shotgun start, but didn’t make her first birdie until the fifth hole.

However, after rolling in back-to-back birdies the English star got into the groove and rolled in four birdies in five holes before sinking her eagle putt on 16 to seal the victory – her first on the LET.

Her first LET win was made even sweeter by the fact that Law was surrounded by friends that she has grown up playing with.

It was overnight leader Maria Fassi who claimed second place with a total of 14-under-par after carding a final round of 4-under 68. The Tokyo 2020 Olympian got off to a slow star but Law went ahead.

Germany’s Esther Henseleit ended the tournament in third place - three shots off the lead after rounds of 72, 66 and 66.

Two LET winners from the 2021 season finished tied for fourth on 11-under-par as Pajaree Anannarukarn and Lee-Anne Pace carded final rounds of 69 and 70, respectively.

Thailand’s Moriya Jutanugarn was sixth on 10-under-par with Olivia Cowan, Ariya Jutanugarn, Magdalena Simmermacher and Alice Hewson rounding out the top ten on nine-under. 

Also Read : Aditi T-17, Tvesa T-20 at Dubai Moonlight Classic

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Port Royal (Bermuda), Oct 30 (Golf news) Indian golfer Anirban Lahiri crashed out of the Butterfield Bermuda Championship but Arjun Atwal made the halfway cut after two rounds here.

Also missing out was Daniel Chopra, while Indian American Sahith Theegala made the weekend action. Top Asian star Kiradech Aphibarnrat also made the cut.

Atwal made the cut on the line with rounds of 70-72, while Lahiri (75-70) missed out as he finished three shots off the cut. Chopra carded 73-70.

Kiradech, who had a fine 67 on the first day, shot 72 on second and was T-34, while Theegala (74-66) had a superb second round to make up for the first and was T-46, moving 28 places up.

Taylor Pendrith of Canada, who got married two weeks ago, ran off five straight birdies at the turn and flirted with a sub-60 round until settling for two closing pars and a 10-under 61 at Port Royal.

That gave him a one-shot lead over Patrick Rodgers going into the weekend.

Pendrith was stuck on the wrong side of the draw for an opening round in rain squalls and 35 mph gusts that allowed only six players from Thursday morning to break par. He more than made up for it in ideal weather in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

Rodgers, who came back to the PGA Tour via the Korn Ferry Tour Finals route, followed a 68 in breezy conditions on the first day with a 64.

Vincent Whaley (67) was two shots behind, followed by Danny Lee (67) and David Skinns, a 39-year-old rookie from England who had another 67. Patrick Reed was six shots behind.

Also Read : Atwal leads among Indians, Lahiri trails in first round in Bermuda

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Port Royal (Bermuda), Oct 29 (Golf news) It was not the best of starts for Anirban Lahiri with a 4-over 75, but his senior colleague Arjun Atwal carded 1-under 70 to be placed T-25 after first round at the wind-swept Butterfield Bermuda Championship here.

Lahiri’s 75 placed him T-89 and he needs a solid second round to make the cut, while Atwal needs to maintain the form.

Indian-born Swede Daniel Chopra shot 2-over 73 and was T-63 while Sahith Theegala, an Indian American, shot even par over 14 holes when play ended early.

Atwal, who gets to the Champions Tour, returned a commendable 70 in the afternoon’s play which featured four birdies against three bogeys. This week is his first TOUR start since July’s Barbasol Championship.

Lahiri had an eventful round with three birdies, five bogeys and a double bogey and the strong winds made scoring difficult for the morning session.

At one point play was suspended around lunchtime for 15 minutes due to rain and winds. A total of 13 players will complete their first rounds on Friday.

The leading Asian was the Thai star Kiradech Aphibarnrat who enjoyed the luck of the draw as he opened with a 4-under 67 to share fourth place and lie two strokes off the lead on Thursday.

Fresh from a three-week break, the 32-year-old Kiradech began his first round in the afternoon session with successive bogeys on hole number 11 and 12 but bounced back strongly with six birdies, including on all three of the par-5 holes at Port Royal Golf Course.

Brandon Hagy and Chad Ramey share the lead after shooting matching 65s in the USD 6.5 million PGA TOUR tournament which is offering the full 500 FedExCup points to the winner.

The opening 67 was Kiradech’s lowest round yet in the 2021-22 season following two missed cut appearances.

Korea’s Sangmoon Bae, a two-time TOUR winner, carded a 71.

Hagy and Ramy put themselves in prime position for a maiden TOUR title with rounds of 65 each.

Also Read : Dubai-based Indian golfer Gupta hopes to use familiar conditions at Asia-Pacific Amateur

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Dubai, Oct 29 (Golf news) Indian golfers Aditi Ashok and Tvesa Malik shot 71 each to be placed comfortably inside the cutline after two days at the Dubai Moonlight Classic here.

Aditi (69-71) and Tvesa (70-71) are T-17 and T-20 respectively, while Diksha Dagar (72-71) is T-27.

Both Aditi and Tvesa had four birdies against three bogeys, while Diksha had three birdies and two bogeys.

Maria Fassi (63-71) and Jessica Karlsson (66-68) sit tied at the top of the leaderboard on 10-under-par.

Fassi held the overnight lead after equalling the tournament course record of 63 in round one and although day two was tougher, the 23-year-old held onto her position.

She rolled in one birdie on the front nine, before making two birdies and two bogeys on the back nine for a round of 1-under 71.

The Mexican golfer has come into the event on the back of a fifth place finish at the ShopRite LPGA Classic and has had her mum following her out on the course.

Tied alongside Fassi is Sweden’s Karlsson who backed up a first round of 6-under 66 with a second round of 4-under 68.

South African Lee-Anne Pace, who was one shot off the lead overnight, sits in that position again after a round of 71.

The ten-time LET winner had five birdies and four bogeys on her card but the bogey on 16th was an excellent save after ending up in the bush.

Also Read : Amateur Avani wins second title of Hero WPGT season

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Tokyo, Oct 29 (Golf news) Indian golfer Rahil Gangjee, who needed to play well in the last few events to keep his card, followed his first round 64 with a 72 to be 6-under and T-6 at the ISPS Handa Gatsun to tobase tournament here.

The leader after two rounds was Yuta Uetake of Japan with 65-68, while Scott Vincent (66-68) and Tomoya Ikemura (68-66) are tied second.

Playing in his fourth year on Japan Tour, Gangjee made a great start on the first day at Miho GC with eight birdies and a bogey to score 64 and led the field.

“I owe all of this to Shaun. Thanks to Shaun, it worked as a magic," he said.

Gangjee has been having problems with his putting this season, and that has put him in 81st place on the Money List. He changed his putter two weeks ago at Bridgestone Open, but it didn't solve the problem and he missed the cut.

He went to JOYX Golf Club for past two weeks since he wasn't attending any tournaments, but that didn't help either.

"But somehow, a practice round with Shaun made miracles. My putting got really great," said Gangjee There are only six more tournaments left including JT Cup, which Gangjee still doesn't have the exemption of. He really needs to make good result this week.

He earned multiple year Tour Card with his victory at 2018 Panasonic Open, but that will end this season.

"If I don't make my way up on the Money Rankings, I must face QT in December."

Also Read : Golf: Khalin Joshi emerges victorious at Jaipur Open

News Source : PTI

New Delhi, Oct 26 (Golf news) Dubai-based teen golfer Arjun Gupta will be one of the top hopes of the Indian contingent at the 12th Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship (AAC), to be played from November 3 to 6.

The tournament will be contested at the Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club and even though Arjun is ranked 202nd in the world amateur rankings, he has the advantage of playing at a course where he has been a regular.

The 17-year-old Indian, who was born and raised in Dubai, where his parents are based, has a unique edge over the rest of the field. He has the best local knowledge of the field on how to tackle the course where he has played often.

Gupta won the Abu Dhabi Amateur Championship in December last year, which earned him a place in the European Tour's Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship. He also participated in the U.S. Junior Amateurs this year and reached the round of 16.

The best finish by an Indian at the AAC was also by a Dubai-based Rayhan Thomas, who finished runner-up in 2018. So, if Arjun is hoping to go one better than Thomas, he will need to upset some of the biggest names in amateur golf.

The other five Indians in the fray are 18-year-old Mysorean Aryan Roopa Anand, Pune's Rohan Dhole Patil, 21-year-old Panipat golfer Shubham Jaglan, who is now planning to play in US, 16-year-old Hyderabad golfer Milind Soni and 20-year-old Bengalurean Akshay Neranjan.

The Asia-Pacific Amateurs, one of the best-known amateur events which offers a passage to the Masters at the Augusta National and The Open in UK, will also have some of the world’s leading young stars.

Leading them are Japan’s Keita Nakajima and China’s Yuxin Lin.

Nakajima will be entering the championship as the reigning No. 1 player in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), while the two-time AAC winner Lin aims to surpass 2021 Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama (2010, 11) and become the first player to win the title three times.

However, with the region attempting to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic which denied many players competitive action for a long period of time, the field will be hungry to make its mark in the Asia-Pacific region’s most integral amateur championship.

And then there is the big motivation – a dream invitation to the 2022 Masters and the 150th Open Championship at St Andrews.

The 21-year-old becomes only the fourth active WAGR No. 1 player to compete in the AAC, joining Matsuyama, Japan’s Takumi Kanaya and Australia’s Curtis Luck. He took over as the top-ranked amateur in the world when Kanaya – his compatriot and 2018 AAC champion – turned professional.

Also Read : Amateur Avani wins second title of Hero WPGT season

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Gurugram, Oct 22 (Golf news) Chaitanya Pandey on Friday emerged as one of the five players to complete back-to-back wins at the 2021 US Kids Golf India North Tour here.

Playing in the Under-10 segment, Chaitanya, who went through a play-off in the first event on Thursday, won by three shots over the Dubai-based Siddhaan Chibber.

The other young players competing a second time in the double header were Samar Baijal (Boys U-7), Shambhavi Chaturvedi (Girls 9-10), Parnika Sharma (Girls 11-12) and Mahreen Bhatia (Girls 13-14).

The youngest winner on Friday was Nalinaksh in the Boys U-6 and he shot 7-over 43 in his nine holes at the ITC Classic Golf and Country Club.

Another popular winner was Prince Bainsla in the Boys U-11 and he got a big ovation when he went up to get his winner’s gold medal after scoring 3-over 75 beating Armin Paul Singh, the winner in the first event, by three shots.

In the first event, Armin won by one shot over Prince.

In the Girls U-8, Aanya Dandriyal, who was third in the first event a day earlier, turned the tables and beat Annika Chendira by one shot in the nine-hole tussle.

Arshvant Srivastava looked set for winning a double, as he led by two shots with two holes to go in his tussle with Bhawesh Nirwan.

A double bogey after going into the bunker on 17th and a closing bogey on 18th meant he dropped from one-under to 2-over and lost by one shot to Bhawesh, who compensated for being third in the first event.

The top finishers will get priority points based on their finish and scores and that in turn will help them get entries into world level international events like the US Kids World Championships at Pinehurst in US and the US Kids Europe competition.

The three youngest divisions -- Boys U-6, Boys U-7 and Girls U-8 -- were contested over nine holes.

Also Read : Action begins in US Kids India Golf Tour

News Source : PTI

Panchkula, Oct 22 (Golf news) Amateur Avani Prashanth won her second title of the season as she held off the seasoned Amandeep Drall by a shot to win the 11th leg of the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour here on Friday.

Avani and Amandeep played even par rounds, which helped the former stay ahead to emerge victor at the Panchkula Golf Club.

Avani totalled 2-under 214, while Amandeep aggregated 1-under 215.

Three players, Pranavi Urs (76), Jahanvi Bakshi (73) and Vani Kapoor (73) were tied for third place at 4-over 219. Seher Atwal (75) was sixth at 221 and Rhea Jha (73) was seventh.

Saaniya Sharma, amateur Kriti Chowhan and Hitaashee Bakshi occupied the eighth to 10th places.

Avani, who is playing both the WPGT circuit and the amateur Tours, won the third leg in Mumbai and was also runner-up at the DLF Golf and Country Club in Gurugram in the eighth leg and was again second in the 10th leg last week in Chandigarh.

Avani’s 66 in the second round, as also that of Saaniya Sharma, were confirmed as the Ladies scoring record at the Panchkula Golf Club.

Starting the final day one shot behind Avani, the experienced Amandeep bridged that narrow gap with a birdie on the second hole. However, a dropped shot on par-5 fifth gave the lead back to Avani, who parred the first six holes.

Avani landed her first birdie on the seventh but gave away that gain on the next hole. So, when the players reached the turn, Avani was still one ahead.

The others were way behind, and the contest was now between Avani and Amandeep.

On the back nine, while Avani birdied 11th and 12th, Amandeep birdied 11th and bogeyed 12th. That meant Avani was now three shots clear.

There was another twist as Avani dropped shots on par-3 13th and par-4 15th, while Amandeep birdied 15th to pull level with the young amateur.

With two holes left, it was now about holding nerves. Amandeep bogeyed the 17th, while Avani parred the 17th and 18th and won the title.

Amandeep continues to lead the Hero Order of Merit, while Vani Kapoor remains second.

Amandeep has now won Rs 15,01,900, while Vani has amassed Rs 13,00,500 and Jahanvi became the third player to cross the Rs 10 lakh mark as she has earned Rs 10,67,733.

Hitaashee, Seher and Saaniya are fourth, fifth and sixth respectively.

Also Read : Amateur Avani moves ahead of Amandeep, Pranavi in 11th leg of WPGT

News Source : PTI

Panchkula, Oct 21 (Golf news) Amateur Avani Prashanth once again underlined her massive potential with a superb six-under 66 that catapulted her to the top of the leader board in the second round of 11th leg of the Hero WPGT here on Thursday.

Avani, who shot 76 in the first round made a 10-shot improvement as she had four birdies on the front nine beginning with one on the first hole and three in a row from fifth to seventh.

She had two more on 10th and 15th and no bogeys. The highlight was that she picked birdies on three of the four Par-5s as she is now 2-under 142 and one shot ahead of Amandeep Drall and Pranavi Urs.

Despite being an amateur Avani, straddling between the WPGT circuit and the amateur Tours, has been having a great season. She won the third leg in Mumbai and has since finished runner-up at the DLF Golf and Country Club in Gurugram in the eighth leg and was again second in the 10th leg last week in Chandigarh.

Amandeep, the winner last week and second after the first day, stayed there with a second round of 73 that included a double bogey on Par-4 10th. She had three bogeys against four birdies but at 1-under 143 she is breathing down Avani's neck.

Pranavi Urs, a four-time winner on the WPGT, slipped to 2 over 74 as she had three birdies, three bogeys and a double bogey on the Par-5 seventh.

Saaniya Sharma had the biggest swing in scores from first to second day as she followed up her first round 79 with a second round 66, which was flawless and equal to leader Avani’s card. Saaniya, however, had an eagle on the Par-5 third and four other birdies without dropping any shots.

Vani Kapoor (71), Jahanvi Bakshi (72) and Seher Atwal (75) were tied for fifth at 2-over 146, while Rhea Jha (73), Lakhmehar Pardesi (79) and Gaurika Bishnoi (76) were occupying places eighth to 10th.

With just one shot separating the top three, a keen battle is assured in the leading group, but right behind them are Saaniya, Vani and Jahanvi.

The cut fell at 15-over 159 and 18 players who made the cut will figure in the final round. 

Also Read : Pranavi Urs takes one-shot lead over Amandeep in 11th leg of Hero WPGT

News Source : PTI

New Delhi, Oct 20 (Golf news) The US Kids Golf India Tour returns to action this week with back-to-back events at the iconic ITC Classic Golf and Country Club in Gurugram.

The US Kids Golf India offers Indian youngsters in the age bracket of six to 18 a chance to earn priority status while playing at home.

Entries and spots to US Kids World Championships in Pinehurst and to events in Europe are decided on the basis of priority status earned on the basis of positions and scores on the US Kids Golf Tour India and outside.

Rajesh Srivastava, President of the US Kids Golf India, said, "The return to action after almost 20 months has come after we got a green signal from the world body of the US Kids Golf in the US and we will be following all Covid protocols and giving our children the very best in terms of championship courses and facilities." The event begins Thursday.

The US Kids Golf Tour made its entry into India in 2018-19 and helped a huge number of youth play the prestigious US Kids events at world renowned courses Europe and the United States.

Also Read : Pranavi Urs takes one-shot lead over Amandeep in 11th leg of Hero WPGT

News Source : PTI

Panchkula, Oct 20 (Golf news) Young golfer Pranavi Urs grabbed the first round lead in the 11th leg of the Hero Women's Pro Golf Tour after carding a three-under 69 in the opening round here on Wednesday.

The 18-year-old, who has tasted success twice as an amateur and then two more times as a professional on the Tour, took a one-shot lead over Amandeep Drall.

Pranavi, who won once earlier this year, had four birdies against one bogey, while Amandeep, winner last week, had a bogey each in the first and 10th holes against four birdies, three of which came on the back nine.

Seher Atwal had two birdies in the last three holes in her card of one-under 71. She had one bogey on par-5 15th and then birdies on 16th and 17th.

Lakhmehar Pardesi (73) was fourth, while amateur Kriti Chowhan and Jahanvi Bakshi shot 74 each.

Vani Kapoor (75) was sixth. Amateur Avani Prashanth and Rhea Jha carded 76 each, while five players shot 77 each in tied 10th place and they were Hitaashee Bakshi, amateur Puneet K Bajwa, Rhea Saravanan, Gauri Karhade and Ishvari Prasanna.

Pranavi, who also went to Europe for a couple of starts to test her game, seemed to have found her rhythm early.

She birdied the second and fifth holes but dropped a shot on seventh. Birdies on 11th and 15th added to her performance as she closed with 69, the only sub-70 round of the day.

Also Read : In-form Amandeep eye good outing at 11th leg of Hero WPGT

News Source : PTI

Panchkula, Oct 19 (Golf news) In-form Amandeep Drall will look to continue her impressive run when she competes at the 11th leg of the Hero Women's Pro Golf Tour at the Panchkula Golf Club beginning on Wednesday.

The Kapurthala golfer, who has gained a lot of confidence with a string of events in Europe, was in excellent form in the 10th leg where she was a runaway winner and closed the week with a ladies course record 7-under 65 on the last day.

Two other players showing a lot of confidence on their return from the European sojourn are Vani Kapoor and Gaurika Bishnoi, who are also in the field.

Among the numerous youngsters who have impressed in the recent past are the Bakshi sisters -- Jahanvi and Hitaashee, amateur Avani Prashanth and Lakhmehar Pardesi, who won her maiden title at the NOIDA leg.

Zara Anand, a young amateur, who rose through the ranks in the US Kids Golf events in the last few years, will also be hoping to turn in a performance worthy of notice.

Pranavi Urs, who excelled as an amateur on the Hero WPGT, and then won as a pro, too, will be hoping to find that magic once again as she has now recovered from her injury.

The event this week carries a purse of Rs. 9 lakhs and Amandeep Drall and Vani Kapoor occupy the top two spots on the Hero Order of Merit.

Also Read : Favourite Amandeep wins by 3 shots over amateur Avani in 10th leg of WPGT

News Source : PTI

(Football news) The Executive Board (EB) of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will take notes on FIFA’s plans to host the World Cup every two years. A number of International Federations (IFs) of other sports, national football federations, clubs, players, coaches have expressed strong concerns regarding the plans to host the World Cup every two years and also to generate more revenue for FIFA, mainly for the following reasons:

• Impact on other sports – If the World Cup is hosted every two years then they would clash with other major international sports. This includes tennis, cycling, golf, gymnastics, swimming, athletics, Formula 1 and many others. This would undermine the diversity and development of sports other than football.
• Gender equality – The increase in men’s World Cup events in the calendar would create challenges for the further promotion and development of women’s football.
• Players’ welfare – The increase in frequency of World Cups, would result in strain on the physical and mental health of the players.

Also read: FIFA summit proposes changes of biannual World Cup despite UEFA and CONMEBOL opposition

The IOC shares these concerns and would support the calls of stakeholders of football, International Sports Federations and major event organisers for a wider consultation that would also include the athletes’ representatives, which till now has obviously not taken place.
 

New York, Oct 16 (Golf news) Indian golfer Aditi Ashok carded a two-under 70 to be placed Tied-13th after the second round of the Aramco Team Series here.

Another Indian, Tvesa Malik (74-72), was T-37th. World No. 1 Nelly Korda (69-66) was on top of the individual standings.

Alison Lee, also from the US, was second with cards of 69 and 67. Three players, Pia Babnik (68-69), Danielle Kang (68-69) and Lindsay Weaver (71-66), were tied for third.

In the team competition, Team Ashok, which includes Pia Babnik, Marta Sanz Barrio and amateur S Keogh, was lying T-13, alongside the group led by Korda at 21-under.

Tvesa, who is part of Team Salas, led by LPGA player, Lizzette Salas, was T-26 at 14-under.

Korda sisters, Jessica and Nelly, were in lead in the Team and individual standings respectively.

The leaders in Team event, were the ones led by Bronte Law, whose partners are Kelsey McDonald, Amy Boulden and J Ziegler. They shot 16-under-par in the second round to be 31-under.

The quartet of Bronte Law, Kelsey Macdonald, Amy Boulden and amateur Jordan Ziegler have gelled together nicely throughout this week and sit in pole position on 31-under-par heading into the final day.

One stroke behind the leaders in second place is Team Pace, which also fired a round of 16-under with no bogeys.

Three teams are tied for third at the end of the second day with Team Jessica Korda, Team Strom and Team Popov all on 29-under-par.

Also Read :  Favourite Amandeep wins by 3 shots over amateur Avani in 10th leg of WPGT

News Source : PTI

Valderrama (Spain), Oct 16 (Golf news) Indian golfers Shubhankar Sharma and Gaganjeet Bhullar failed to live upto their own expectations, making an early exit from the Estrella Damm NA Andalucía Masters after missing the halfway cut in the European Tour event.

Bhullar, who had an 82 in the first round, improved by 13 shots with a 69 and totalled nine-over but was still way off the cut line, which fell at six-over.

Sharma (79-75) was even further down.

Romain Langasque carded a second consecutive round of 69 to take a one-stroke lead into the weekend.

The Frenchman, who won his first European Tour title at last year's Wales Open, carded 15 pars, a birdie, and his second eagle of the week, dropping just one shot. He is four-under par for two rounds.

The 26-year-old, winner of the Amateur Championship in 2015, is one stroke ahead of a group of four golfers, with just 12 players under par after 36 holes on one of Europe's most formidable courses.

Laurie Canter registered the lowest round of the week thus far, a six-under par 65, to share the second place on three-under with compatriot Matt Fitzpatrick, who is making his first start since the Ryder Cup, New Zealand's Ryan Fox and Sebastian Söderberg of Sweden.

Two-time European Tour winner Alejandro Cañizares, who is also a member at Real Club Valderrama, is the leading Spaniard, sharing sixth spot with three others on two-under par.

Also Read : Golf: Khalin Joshi emerges victorious at Jaipur Open

News Source : PTI

Chandigarh, Oct 15 (Golf news) Amandeep Drall bounced back with one of the best rounds of the season as she drilled eight birdies against just one bogey for a superb seven-under 65 in the final round to win the 10th leg of the Hero Women's Pro Golf Tour by three shots here.

Amateur Avani Prashanth, who shared the overnight lead with Amandeep after two rounds, was left three shots behind despite a fine four-under 68. She finished in second place. Vani Kapoor tripped to one-over 73 and was fourth, while Jahanvi Bakshi (68) was third.

Amandeep, for whom this was her first title in 2021, finished with a superb nine-under 207, while Avani was six-under 210 and Jahanvi was four-under 212. Vani also had an under-par total of one-under 215.

Amandeep, who gained tremendously by competing in Europe over the last few months, had started the week with 4-under 68 before slipping on the second day with 74.

In the final round, she fell back by two shots after the first hole as she bogeyed the first and playing partner and overnight co-leader, Avani had a birdie on the same hole.

Soon after Amandeep found her form as she birdied second, fourth, sixth and seventh to turn in 3-under 33. Avani dropped a shot on fourth where Amandeep had a birdie for a two-shot swing.

That helped Amandeep go ahead by one. Like Amandeep, Avani also birdied the sixth and seventh but was still one behind at the turn.

On the back nine Amandeep drove off on her own with three birdies in a row from 11th to 13th, while Avani had gains only on 13th. Both birdied the 16th but with two holes left and three shots clear Amandeep made no mistake and Avani was unable to find any more birdies.

The win also cemented Amandeep's place on top of the Hero Order of Merit, which she was already leading.

Also Read : Disappointing start for Sharma, Bhullar in Spain

News Source : PTI

Jaipur, Oct 15 (Golf news) Khalin Joshi's final round of three-under 67 was good enough for him to turn the tables on overnight leader M Dharma and emerge victorious at the Rs 40 lakh Jaipur Open golf tournament presented by Rajasthan Tourism, here on Friday.

Joshi (61-66-64-67), who made a dramatic three-putt from four feet on the last hole to end the tournament with a bogey, won by one shot as he totalled 22-under 258 for the week.

Khalin's fifth career trophy ended his three-year long title drought.

The 29-year-old Joshi, who hails from the Karnataka Golf Association (KGA) course, overcame the disappointment of his runner-up finish in Delhi last week as he bagged a winning cheque worth Rs. 6,46,600 to move up from fifth to third in the PGTI Order of Merit.

He made six birdies and three bogeys on the last day.

"I was not comfortable with my irons today, especially on the approach shots. However, I drove and putted really well. So I said to myself to keep hitting as many fairways and greens as possible and the putter will do the rest of the job," Joshi said.

"The key for me today was making some up and downs and clutch par putts. This win will help me raise my game even more in the future events." Dharma (62-62-65-70), the overnight leader by two shots, slipped to second place with an even-par 70 on the last day as he struggled to hole putts. He ended the week with a total of 21-under 259.

Sunit Chowrasia (64) of Kolkata and Harendra Gupta (65) of Chandigarh took tied third place at 20-under 260. Chowrasia's round featured seven birdies and a bogey while Gupta had an eagle, four birdies and a bogey.

Chandigarh's Yuvraj Singh Sandhu produced the best round of the tournament, a 10-under 60, to claim the tied seventh place at 18-under 262. Yuvraj sank an eagle on the 18th from five feet and also made nine birdies and a bogey during his round.

Olympian Udayan Mane (64) was tied ninth at 17-under 263.

Also Read : Team Aditi T-15, Tvesa's team lies T-27 in Aramco Series New York

News Source : PTI

Sotogrande (Spain), Oct 15 (Golf news) Indian golfers Shubhankar Sharma and Gaganjeet Bhullar endured a disappointing opening round at the Andalucía Masters and run the risk of missing the cut.

While Sharma, who had been trending well, slumped to 8-over 79, Bhullar carded a 11-over 82 here on Thursday.

Sharma, who finished tied third at the Acciona Open de Espana last week, had six bogeys and a double and no birdies in one of his worst rounds of the season.

Bhullar, on the other hand, had one birdie, three bogeys, three doubles and one triple.

Rafa Cabrera Bello began his quest for back-to-back victories on home soil in style as he carded a three-under 68.

The Spaniard, who won his fourth European Tour title at the Acciona Open de Espana, carded four birdies at the formidable Real Club Valderrama and was one of just nine players to sign for an under par round.

The 37-year-old is one stroke behind Frenchman Julien Guerrier, who equalled his best European Tour finish in the Spanish capital last week when he finished T3 behind Cabrera Bello.

After his four under par round of 67, Guerrier holds a first round lead on the European Tour for the first time in his career.

Sitting in third is Guerrier's compatriot Romain Langasque, who carded a two under par 69. Soren Kjeldsen, winner of the 2008 Volvo Masters at Valderrama, is one of seven players in a share of fourth on one under par.

Frenchman Raphael Jacquelin is also one under par with one hole to play after the first round was suspended due to darkness in Sotogrande.

Also Read : Jaipur Open: M Dharma maintains lead on day 3, Khalin Joshi two behind in second place

News Source : PTI

New York, Oct 15 (Golf news) It was not a great opening day for either of the two Indian golfers in action at the Aramco Team Series women's event here, while visa issues prevented a third from competing altogether.

Aditi Ashok, leading Team Ashok, was lying T-15, while Tvesa Malik, part of the team led by Lizette Salas, a star on the LPGA Tour, was T-28 after the first round. Team Ashok totalled nine-under, while Team Salas was five-under.

The third Indian, Diksha Dagar was unable to get to New York because of a delay in getting her visa formalities done. Diksha had been part of the winning team in the first event of the series in London.

Team Strom, led by Linnea Strom, was on top of the leaderboard with a two-shot lead at the end of the first day.

The quartet of Linnea Strom, Jenny Haglund, Lucie Malchirand and Cho Minn Thant, CEO of the Asian Tour, produced a bogey-free day as a team, made the turn in eight-under and finished at 18-under-par thanks to a birdie-net-eagle from amateur Thant on the 18th.

Sophia Popov fired a seven-under 65 to top the individual leaderboard. Aditi was one-under and T-19, while Tvesa (74) was T-39th.

A cluster of players are tied for second in the individual competition after shooting rounds of 68 (-4) including England’s Bronte Law. At the last Aramco Team Series in Sotogrande, Strom and Haglund were part of Team Strom where they finished second after losing in a playoff to Team Buhai.

Individually, Bronte Law is alongside Pauline Roussin Bouchard, Anna Nordqvist, Danielle Kang, Pia Babnik and Lee-Anne Pace with five players one shot behind on three-under-par.

While in the team competition, Team J Korda and Team Pace are tied for fourth on 14-under with Team Kyriacou on 13-under and Team Skarpnord on 12-under.

Also Read : Tvesa, Aditi and Diksha feature in Aramco Series in New York

News Source : PTI

Jaipur, Oct 14 (Golf news) Bengaluru's M Dharma held on to the lead on the third day of the Jaipur Open golf tournament, carding a five-under 65 here on Thursday.

The two-time PGTI winner (62-62-65), who was the overnight leader by three shots, ended day three with a two-shot lead, moving his total to 21-under 189.

His good friend and regular practice partner, Khalin Joshi (61-66-64) moved from overnight tied second to sole second at 19-under 191 following his 64 in round three.

Dharma and Khalin, both belonging to the same course, the Karnataka Golf Association (KGA), have stamped their authority here this week as both have been placed inside the top-3 on the first three days of the event.

Veer Ahlawat (67) and Harendra Gupta (67) are currently placed third at 16-under 194 and fourth at 15-under 195 respectively.

Dharma, looking for his first title in four years, missed a few short birdie putts early on and then dropped a bogey on the fourth after finding the bunker.

He finally got into his stride with a great tee shot on the sixth that left him a four-feet birdie conversion.

Thereafter, Dharma added five more birdies.

"After a poor start, it was the excellent tee shot on the fourth that got me back in my rhythm. I enjoy playing at the RGC as it is a shorter course and thus suits my game since my wedge-play is very strong," Dharma said.

Joshi, searching for his first win in three years, went bogey-free for the first time this week.

His six birdies were complemented by two outstanding par-saves from a distance of 12 to 20 feet on the eighth and 16th.

Sunit Chowrasia shot the day’s best score of 63 to be placed tied fifth at 14-under 196 along with PGTI Order of Merit leader Karandeep Kochhar (67) and last week’s winner Viraj Madappa (68).

Olympian Udayan Mane (68) was tied 12th at 11-under 199.

Hemendra Choudhary (66-70-68), playing at his home course, was tied 31st at six-under 204.

Also Read : Dharma dominates round 2 with second straight 62, opens 3-shot lead

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Chandigarh, Oct 14 (Golf news) Amateur Avani Prashanth overcame a string of bogeys on the front-nine to stay in touch with seasoned professionals Vani Kapoor and Amandeep Drall and share the lead after two rounds of the 10th leg of the Hero Women's Professional Golf Tour here.

Amandeep Drall (68-74) had an off day with three bogeys on the front-nine against just one birdie on the back, while Vani Kapoor (72-70) showed form and rhythm of the old with six birdies against an opening double bogey and two bogeys, including a late one on 17th, for a round of 2-under 70.

Vani, who has been trying to re-discover the form that made her a dominant force on the domestic circuit, was in a terrific run through the second round.

Despite a double bogey on first, she quickly fought back with birdies on second and third and then added another birdie on seventh to turn in one-under.

On the back nine, after a bogey on 10th she reeled off three birdies in a row from 12th to 14th but dropped a shot on 17th.

Avani had four bogeys against three birdies in her card of 73.

With totals of two-under 142 each, the three will go out together in the final group on the final day and it promises to be a tight battle, as Vani and Amandeep seek their first win in 2021 and Avani chases her second title this year.

Jahanvi Bakshi, who carded 71 in the first round, was one-over 73 and lying two shots adrift of the three leaders in sole fourth place.

Her sister Hitaashee (75-73), was tied alongside amateur Puneet K Bajwa (72-76) in fifth place.

Rhea P Saravanan (75-74) and Gaurika Bishnoi (75-74) were tied seventh at 149, while Pranavi Urs (75-75) and Seher Atwal (71-79) completed the Top-10.

The cut fell at 158 and among the prominent names missing from the final day draw were Afshan Fatima and Smriti Mehra.

A total of 22 players will play the final round in the Rs 10 lakh event.

Also Read : Amandeep lives up to expectations as she leads 10th leg of Hero WPGT

News Source : PTI

Jaipur, Oct 13 (Golf news) Bengaluru’s M Dharma produced a second straight eight-under 62, the day's best score, to open up a three-shot lead at 16-under 124 at the Rs 40 lakh Jaipur Open here on Wednesday.

The 35-year-old Dharma (62-62), who was tied second and one off the lead after round one, is now well-placed to improve upon his two third place finishes in the previous two editions of the Jaipur Open.

The two-time winner on the PGTI, currently placed 18th in the PGTI Order of Merit, sank an eagle and seven birdies at the cost of a solitary bogey in the second round at the par-70 Rambagh Golf Club (RGC).

Gurugram's Veer Ahlawat (64-63) had an astonishing run of six successive birdies on the back-nine during his second round of 63. He moved up four spots to tied second at 13-under 127.

Bengaluru’s Khalin Joshi (61-66), the round one leader, slipped to tied second along with Ahlawat after a second round of 66 that featured an eagle, four birdies and two bogeys.

The cut fell at three-under 137. Fifty professionals made the cut for the money rounds. Dharma had one of his best days with the putter in recent times. He sank birdies from a range of 10 to 15 feet on the first, third, fourth and sixth.

Dharma then missed an eagle by the narrowest of margins as his approach shot from 100 yards out stopped inches from the flag. He tapped-in for birdie there. His only bogey of the day came on the second hole.

On the back-nine, Dharma made further gains with a 20-feet birdie and a 25-feet eagle conversion on the 10th and 18th respectively. He also picked up a birdie on the 13th. Veer Ahlawat had a dream run of six straight birdies from the 13th to the 18th. He then had a relatively quieter front-nine, adding just one more birdie on his closing ninth hole.

Khalin Joshi was three-under over the first 10 holes but then had an up and down last eight holes collecting an eagle and a birdie in exchange for two bogeys.

Last week’s winner Viraj Madappa (64) of Kolkata and Chandigarh’s Harendra Gupta (65) were in tied fourth place at 12-under 128.

PGTI Order of Merit leader Karandeep Kochhar (64) of Chandigarh was in sixth at 11-under 129.

Olympian Udayan Mane (65) was tied eighth at nine-under 131.

Jaipur’s Hemendra Choudhary (66-70), playing at his home course, was placed tied 32nd at four-under 136. Choudhary was the only Jaipur-based player to make the cut. 

Also Read : Khalin Joshi takes lead at Jaipur Open with round of 61

News source : PTI

Chandigarh, Oct 13 (Golf news) Amandeep Drall lived up to her top billing with a flawless 4-under 68 that put her on top of the leaderboard at the end of the first round in the 10th leg of the Hero Women's Pro Golf Tour here on Wednesday.

After day one at the Chandigarh Golf Club, Amandeep was one shot ahead of the highly rated amateur Avani Prashanth (69), who had four birdies against one bogey.

Kapurthala golfer Amandeep leads the combined Hero Order of Merit for 2020-21 despite missing out on the last few legs of the Tour because of busy schedule in Europe.

Both Amandeep and Avani had a bogey-free 3-under 33 each on the back nine. They also had a birdie each on the front nine, but Avani also dropped a shot on the ninth, while Amandeep stayed error-free.

Avani was the winner of the third leg and runner-up in the seventh leg in 2021. Amandeep is yet to taste a win in 2021, though she had two in 2020. She was runner-up to Avani in the third leg, so she has a score to settle with the youngster.

Seher Atwal and Jahanvi Bakshi also carded under par rounds of 1-under 71 each to be Tied-third. Seher and Jahanvi had contrasting rounds producing similar scores.

Seher had two birdies on front nine, while Jahanvi had two bogeys. However on the back nine, Seher had two birdies against three bogeys, while Jahanvi had three birdies and no bogeys.

Vani Kapoor, with three birdies between ninth and 13th against three bogeys, two of them in the last three holes, shot 72.

Amateur Puneet K Bajwa, who landed the day’s only eagle on the Par-3 16th, also had a 72 with an eventful run from 13th to 17th, where she had no pars, but three bogeys with a birdie and an eagle in between.

Gaurika Bishnoi started with a birdie on second but form deserted here thereafter. She had four bogeys in a space of five holes between fifth and ninth and on the back nine she had two each of birdies and bogeys.

Pranavi Urs, Rhea Saravanan and Hitaashee Bakshi were also Tied-seventh with Gaurika at 3-over 75.

Also Read : Tvesa, Aditi and Diksha feature in Aramco Series in New York

News Source : PTI

New York, Oct 13 (Golf news) Indian trio of Aditi Ashok, Tvesa Malik and Diksha Dagar will compete at the third leg of the Aramco Series in New York beginning on Thursday.

After the first two events in London and Sotogrande, Spain, the third in the series will be held in New York and the final one will be staged in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Tvesa has had a lot of good finishes this season, but Aramco Series events have not been among them.

She was way behind in both London and Sotogrande. So, she will be looking forward to changing that trend at Glen Oaks in New York as the Ladies European Tour goes across the Atlantic after a week's break.

In contrast, Diksha Dagar was part of the winning team in London and in the individual standings she was T-12.

Aditi, a three-time winner on LET including her home Open, the Hero Women's Indian Open, will be making her first appearance in the Aramco Series, as she gets a break from the LPGA this week.

As in the previous two events, the third event of this format will see the team and individual competitions played side by side once again.

Glen Oaks Club plays host to the event and with a stellar field assembled.

World number one and Olympic champion Nelly Korda is one of many US stars in the field alongside her sister and three-time Solheim Cup player Jessica.

Lexi Thompson, Lizette Salas, Angel Yin, Alison Lee and Lindsey Weaver have all already taken part in the Aramco Team Series this year and are back for more.

Three more American players, Danielle Kang, Cheyenne Woods and Natalie Gulbis will be getting a taste of the Series for the first time.

From Europe, a host of Solheim Cup players are ready for action.

From the winning European team this year are Captain Catriona Matthew plus Emily Kristine Pedersen, Charley Hull, Anna Nordqvist, Sophia Popov.

Bronte Law, Caroline Masson and Anne Van Dam, who were part of the European winning team in 2019 are also in attendance.

The two individual winners from London (Marianne Skarpnord) and from Sotogrande, Spain (American Alison Lee) are also in the fray.

Also Read : In-form Amandeep leads strong field in 10th leg of Hero WPGT

News Source : PTI

Dubai, Oct 12 (Golf news) China's defending champion Yuxin Lin will aim for an unprecedented third Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship (AAC) title, but for that to happen, he will have to beat the in-form Japanese world No.1 Keita Nakajima and the cream of region's talent.

The 12th edition of the championship is set to be held from November 3-6 at Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club.

A team of six Indians will also be taking part in the event. The Indian team will be announced shortly.

The 21-year-old Beijing-born Lin won his first title in 2017 at Royal Wellington by three shots after closing with a birdie and an eagle, and then reclaimed the crown from Japan’s Takumi Kanaya when he defeated him in a playoff in Shanghai.

Lin and Japan’s reigning Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama (2010 and 2011) are the only players to have won multiple AAC titles.

"It would be a dream-come-true if I can win the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship for a third time. To be already placed in the same bracket as Hideki Matsuyama as two-time champion is surreal, so to get one ahead would be amazing," said Lin.

While Lin is currently eyeing a return to form with his last win coming in March 2020 at the Southern Highlands Collegiate, Nakajima has been an unstoppable force in his home country.

In his last three starts, he has won the Japan Amateur Championship, followed by last week’s triumph at the Panasonic Open against a quality field of professionals on the Japan Golf Tour.

"I am a college-going amateur so it is an honour that I get the chance of playing against the professionals. I feel it provides me with a great challenge to compete against them and that it has helped me become a better player," said Nakajima.

Created in 2009 by the Asia Pacific Golf Confederation (APGC), the Masters Tournament and The R&A, the AAC was established to further develop amateur golf in the region.

The champion receives an invitation to compete in the Masters Tournament and The Open, while the runner(s)-up gain a place in Final Qualifying for The Open.

Also Read : India blank Netherlands 5-0 in Thomas Cup

News Source : PTI

Jaipur, Oct 12 (Golf news) Khalin Joshi sunk in an eagle and nine birdies to fire a scorching nine-under 61 for the first round lead at the Jaipur Open, here on Tuesday.

The Bengaluru golfer had two bogeys.

Rookie Kartik Sharma of Gurugram and M Dharma, another Bengaluru-based pro, struck error-free rounds of eight-under 62 consisting of an eagle and six birdies each to hold joint second position.

Joshi sank some tough par putts at the start which enabled him to judge the speed of the greens. He got going with consecutive birdies on the 12th, 13th and 14th before recovering from the bunker for a birdie on the 17th followed by another birdie on the par-5 18th.

After making the turn at an impressive four-under, Joshi pushed ahead with a birdie from close range on the second.

His bogey on the third was negated by birdies on the fifth, sixth and seventh, all converted from a range of eight to 15 feet.

The icing on the cake in his extraordinary round was the eagle on the par-5 eighth hole where he drained a 10-footer. "I'm extremely satisfied with today's effort. I feel I'm carrying forward the confidence from last week's good finish," Joshi said.

"I also had a great practice round on Monday which got me in a good frame of mind. My game seems to be heading in the right direction as I feel my swing is in control and I’m rolling the putts well." Kartik Sharma, fresh from top-10s in the last three events, made some long conversions including a 40-footer for birdie on the ninth and a 15-feet eagle putt on the closing 18th.

Kartik, who last played at the RGC as a junior golfer about four years back, also chipped-in for birdie on the 15th.

M Dharma made a chip-in for eagle on the 14th. He came extremely close to adding two more eagles to his card on the 17th and eighth where he missed the hole by inches.

The Chandigarh duo of Harendra Gupta and Abhijit Singh Chadha were in tied fourth place with scores of 63.

Kolkata’s Viraj Madappa, last week’s winner, occupied tied sixth place at 64 along with Gurugram golfers Veer Ahlawat and Dhruv Sheoran.

PGTI Order of Merit leader Karandeep Kochhar of Chandigarh was in tied ninth place after a round of 65.

Olympian Udayan Mane returned a 66 to be tied 17th.

Jaipur's Hemendra Choudhary also carded a 66 to be the highest-placed local golfer in tied 17th.

Among the other Jaipur-based professionals, Vishal Singh posted a 70 to be tied 65th while Girraj Singh Khadka’s 71 placed him tied 76th.

Also Read : Lahiri finishes disappointing 64th as Sungjae Im takes the title at Shriners

News Source : PTI

Chandigarh, Oct 12 (Golf news) Amandeep Drall leads a strong field of Indians who are fresh from their European sojourn as they tee off in the 10th leg of the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour at the Chandigarh Golf Club here on Wednesday.

Amandeep, who has had a good season on the Ladies European Tour Access Series with a few Top-10 finishes, will be joined by Vani Kapoor, who had a modest season.

Gaurika Bishnoi had some very good finishes too, while Pranavi Urs and rookie Durga Nittur are also back after playing in Europe.

Amandeep, a Kapurthala golfer who has played a lot in Chandigarh, is coming off a fine streak that included three Top-10 finishes in her last four starts on the LET Access Series.

She is 12th on the LET Access Series money list, while Gaurika was sixth in an LET Access Series event. The experience will stand them in good stead here at the par-72 layout.

Experienced players like Smriti Mehra, Neha Tripathi, Saaniya Sharma, Seher Atwal and Afshan Fatima will also be in the field. The youngsters led by the Bakshi sisters -- Hitaashee and Jahanvi Bakshi -- and amateur Avani Prashanth will add to the strength of the field.

Lakhmehar Pardesi, who won her maiden title in the last leg at Noida Golf Course, will be hoping to carry on the fine form, especially in Chandigarh, where she is familiar with the course.

A total of 34 players, including six amateurs, will play in the Rs 10 lakh event as the season approaches the closing stages.

Amandeep is still leading the Hero Order of Merit, followed by Vani Kapoor, while Jahanvi and Hitaashee Bakshi are in third and fourth places respectively. Seher Atwal is lying fifth.

Also Read : Amandeep falters in final round, finishes T-11; Vani T-26 in France

News Source : PTI

Las Vegas, Oct 11 (Golf news) Indian golfer Anirban Lahiri was unable to build on a superb start, finishing a disappointing 64th after a final round 71 at the Shriners Children's Open on the PGA Tour.

After an encouraging 65 on day one, Lahiri carded rounds of 70-72-71 to finish the week at 6-under as the course, TPC Summerlin, gave ample chances for low scoring.

Korean Sungjae Im broke through a logjam in the middle of the final round with seven birdies in eight holes around the turn for a 9-under 62 and a four-shot victory. He finished at 24-under 260, matching the tournament record.

On an ideal scoring day, Im was among many players who had at least a share of the lead on the front nine. He first came into the tied lead with a birdie on the sixth hole and then just flew shortly after that.

The 23-year-old South Korean birdied seven times in eight holes between the sixth and 13th. After three birdies on sixth, eighth and ninth, he was in the lead.

Then he holed four more birdies in a row and the highlight was on the 10th when he went from a fairway bunker to 25 feet and made the putt.

His closest challenger, Matthew Wolff (68), rolled in an 18-foot birdie on the ninth to keep pace. But could not match the Korean.

Rory Sabbatini, the Olympic silver medalist from Slovakia, shot 28 on the front nine and was briefly tied for the lead.

He could only manage an even par on the back nine for a 64 and tied for third with Marc Leishman (63) and 54-hole leader Adam Schenk (70).

Sam Burns, the winner last week at Sanderson Farms, carded 72 and tied for 14th.

Also Read : Sharma finishes season's best tied third in Madrid, Rafa grabs title

News Source : PTI

Madrid, Oct 11 (Golf news) Indian golfer Shubhankar Sharma produced his best performance of the year with a final-round five-under 66 to sign off tied third at the ACCIONA Open de Espana that placed him in the top-60 of the Race to Dubai standings.

Sharma, who had rounds of 67-64-70-66, finished at 17-under as Rafa Cabrera Bello defeated fellow Spaniard Adri Arnaus in a play-off to end his four year wait for a European Tour victory.

For Sharma, this was the fourth Top-10 finish of the season during which he was T-8 at Made in Himmerland; T-9 at Cazoo Classic and T-9 at BMW PGA.

But this week's T-3 was by far his best, signalling a return to form for the young Indian.

The third place also took his world ranking to 255th, which makes him the highest placed Indian just ahead of Anirban Lahiri's 266th.

Sharma, starting the final day in fifth place, may well have contended for the title but for a double bogey on the par-3 third and a bogey on the fifth.

Overall, he had eight birdies, but apart from the double, he must also ruing the birdie miss at the par-5 14th.

Sharma birdied the second, fourth, seventh, eighth, 10th, 12th, 17th and 18th. The last two birdies gave him an outside chance of getting into the play-off but Cabrera-Bello and Adri Arnaus made no mistakes.

For Rafa, it also completed the set of Spanish national championships as he has won Spanish titles at all age groups as an amateur.

Rafa, the 2016 Ryder Cup star, entered the final day with a two shot lead but lost it by the second tee and was two behind Arnaus at the turn after a battling front nine.

A hat-trick of birdies from the 13th had him back in a share of the lead at 19-under and he produced a stunning up-and-down from the sand on the last after a ragged tee shot to save par and take the contest to extra holes after a 69.

In the play-off Cabrera Bello birdied from 11 feet to seal a fourth European Tour title. Arnaus carded a closing 67 but was left to reflect on a fourth runner up finish in 72 European Tour starts.

Also Read : Lahiri slips on third day at Shriners Open in Las Vegas

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New Delhi, Oct 10 (Sports news) India's Tokyo Paralympics medallists, including star shooter Avani Lekhara, were on Sunday felicitated by Delhi Golf Club and Piramal Group here.

Fourteen Paralympians, including Sumit Antil (gold in javelin throw), Manish Narwal (gold in shooting), Pramod Bhagat (gold in badminton) and Krishna Nagar (gold in badminton), besides Lekhara, were presented with cash rewards and mementos at the DGC.

Other Paralympians who were felicitated included two-time gold winner and Tokyo Games silver winner javelin thrower Devender Jhajharia and high jumper Mariyappan Thangavelu (who won gold in 2016 Rio and silver in Tokyo). The felicitation was organised to celebrate the triumph of their spirit over seemingly insurmountable odds.

India won an unprecedented 19 medals -- five gold, eight silver and six bronze -- to finish 24th overall in the medal tally in the Tokyo Paralympics early last month.

"It has always been our endeavour to celebrate India's sportspersons to inspire the youth and next generation of athletes. The iconic achievements of the Paralympians will continue to inspire Indians for generations to come," the DGC said in a release.

Also Read : India will double its medal tally in Paris Paralympics: Pramod Bhagat

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Madrid, Oct 10 (Golf news) Indian golfer Shubhankar Sharma carded a sedate one-under 70 in the third round to slip two places to lie tied fifth at the ACCIONA Open de España here.

Sharma, who shot 67-64 on first two days, had just two birdies against one bogey in the third round to lie at 12-under.

He shared the fifth place with overnight leader Wil Besseling (72), Alexander Levy (65) and Richard Bland (64).

Sharma, who has been showing good signs over the past few weeks, is looking at his first Top-5 or better in this season and also a comfortable place in the Top-60 for Race to Dubai's World Tour Championships later in the year.

Sharma birdied seventh and 14th and dropped a shot on 11th.

Rafa Cabrera Bello carded a bogey free 64 to take a two shot lead into the final round. The former World Top-50 player moved to 17-under.

Cabrera Bello has won this event at every age level from under-seven to under-18 as an amateur but now a win as a professional event would rank very highly in his list of career highlights.

Fellow Spaniard Adri Arnaus and Frenchman Julien Guerrier were his nearest challengers after rounds of 67 and 66 respectively, a shot clear of England's Jack Senior.

Overnight leader Wil Besseling, England's Richard Bland, Frenchman Alexander Levy and Shubhankar Sharma were then five shots off the lead.

Home favourite and World Number One Jon Rahm was at 11-under after a 72 alongside Dane Lucas Bjerregaard, Scottish trio David Drysdale, Grant Forrest and Marc Warren, and English pair Matthew Jordan and Ross McGowan.

Also Read : Sharma lands two eagles in second round, moves to 3rd place in Spain

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Tourettes (France), Oct 10 (Golf news) India's Amandeep Drall faltered on the final day with a five-over 77 card and plummeted from overnight second position to finish tied-11th at the Terre Blanche Ladies Open golf tournament here.

Vani Kapoor, the other Indian in the field, also shot 77 and finished T-26 after being T-11 overnight.

Sweden’s Linn Grant rounded off an excellent week, producing a final round of 72 to win the title by four shots.

Heading into the final day, the 22-year-old held a six-shot lead after rounds of 68 (-4) and 66 (-6) on her first two days.

The former Arizona State University player ensured she produced a level-par final round to finish on 10-under-par and win her first tournament as a professional.

In second place was Danish amateur Amalie Leth-Nissen, who shot a final round of 69 (-3) to be four shots behind Grant.

Belgian Charlotte De Corte finished in third on four-under-par after producing rounds of 72, 69 and 71 at Golf de Terre Blanche, while Scotland's Rachael Taylor ended the tournament in the fourth place after a final round of 70.

Next, LETAS heads to Spain for the season finale with the Santander Golf Tour Barcelona at Real Club de Golf el Prat from October 20 to 22.

Also Read : Amandeep Drall lies 2nd, Vani 11th in LETAS event in France

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Las Vegas (US), Oct 10 (Golf news) Struggling a windy day, Indian golfer Anirban Lahiri slipped down the leaderboard from Tied 30 to 54 after carding a one-over 72 at the Shriners Children's Open, here.

Lahiri had shot 65 and 70 on the first two days.

Adam Schenk (64-65-66) was the leader at 18 under while Matthew Wolff (64-67-65) was second at 17 under. Chad Ramey, Sam Burns, and Andrew Putnam are tied for third at 16 under.

On a day when it was windy and not very easy, Lahiri missed the few chances that came his way but he also managed a few tough pars on Saturday.

He looked like getting off to a good start with a birdie on the second from 14 feet but a miss from inside five feet and then from 13 feet meant he dropped back-to-back bogeys.

A super tee to two feet on Par-3 fifth meant he was back to par. Again he dropped a shot after getting to the green in three and missing a par from 13 feet.

He was not inside 20 feet of the flag in the next six holes but still managed pars and on 16th he hit a nice chip from 70 feet to two feet for birdie but gave away that gain on 17th when he missed par from just inside six feet.

Schenk birdied three of his last four holes en route to a 5-under 66 and took a one-shot lead over Wolff. Schenk was at 18-under 195, the second time he has held a 54-hole lead.

Six players were separated by three shots going into the final round at TPC Summerlin, a group that included Sam Burns, who was two back.

The best round belonged to Lanto Griffin, who after 72 on Thursday shot 64 on Friday and played well in the wind on Saturday with another 64 that left him five shots behind.

Also Read : Lahiri shoots 70, makes cut easily at Las Vegas

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Tourrettes, Oct 9 (Golf news) India's Amandeep Drall carded a fine three-under 69 to move to the second place after the second round of the Terre Blanche Ladies Open.

In a week when the Ladies European Tour was on a break, Amandeep moved to the Ladies European Tour's second rung tour, the LET Access Series and showed great form as she was four-under 140 after day two.

The Indian golfer was Tied-fifth after the first round with 71.

Also making the cut was Vani Kapoor (77-68), who had a fine second round with four-under 68 and rose T-11 from overnight T-52.

Despite an early double bogey, Vani, who teed off from the 10th, fought back with seven birdies to get to five-under for the day before a closing bogey on ninth, her final hole.

The field is led by Swede Linn Grant (68-66), whose superb form saw her fire a second round of six-under 66 to hold a six-shot lead.

Amandeep, 13th in the Order of Merit, with three top-ten finishes in her last five LETAS events, said, "Coming into this week my ball striking was really good and I wanted to focus a little more on my putting.

"My ball striking has been solid, yesterday I missed just one green and today it was the same. I just need to keep calm on the greens.

"I'm really excited to be playing in the lead group tomorrow, especially on this tough course. It can be really brutal at times, but I'm really happy I put myself in a position to play in the final group and have a go at it and just stay shot by shot." Amandeep, a multiple winner on the domestic Hero Women's Pro Golf Tour, has been consistent with her results on the LET Access Series, where she has been T-4 at Flumserberg Open, T-8 at PGA Championship, T-5 at Anna Nordqvist Vasteras Open.

Teeing off from the 10th, Amandeep got off to a great start and was three-under through her first nine holes with birdies on 10th, 13th and 18th. She birdied second but dropped her only shot of the day at Par-5 fourth.

With a six-shot lead heading into the final day, the 22-year-old Lim Grant is hoping to close in on the title.

A trio of players sit one shot behind Drall on three-under-par.

Also Read : Amandeep Drall tied fifth after first day in France on LETAS Tour

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Las Vegas, Oct 9 (Golf news) Indian golfer Anirban Lahiri shot one-under 70 in the second round to make the cut comfortably at the Shriners Children's Open here.

The Indian ace is now seven-under and T-30, a fall from being T-10 after the first round.

Lahiri found as many as 14 greens in regulation but did not get a closer look at birdie putts and let go off some chances between 10-15 feet. He had just two birdies and one bogey.

Lahiri's chip on Par-3 fifth went 21 yards to the green from where he rolled a two-putt for bogey. He birdied the 420-yard par-4 10th hole and the 341-yard par-4 15th.

On the 15th, he had a great chip to one foot for birdie.

Lahiri missed the cut last week where Indian-American Sahith Theegala after leading for three rounds ended T-8. This week Theegala (70-68) missed the cut as it fell at 5-under.

Sungjae Im and Chad Ramey are tied for the lead at 14-under, while Sam Burns, winner of the Sanderson Farms last week, and Adam Schenk are tied for 3rd at 13-under.

The 25-year-old Burns has won twice in the last six months and also lost in a playoff at a World Golf Championships event and finished one shot out of a playoff at Riviera this year. So, he is looking at another run for another title.

Im (63-65) and Ramey (63-65) each closed their afternoon rounds with birdies on the par-5 ninth, with Ramey making a 13-footer after hitting his approach into the right greenside bunker.

They were at 14-under 128 at the TPC Summerlin, which also had rain. Im won the Honda Classic last year for his first PGA TOUR title.

The 29-year-old Ramey is making third start of the year and fifth in his PGA TOUR career.

The highest-ranked player in the field at No. 8 in the Official World Golf Ranking Louis Oosthuizen is at 10-under in T-13.

After a stunning first-round 10-under 61, first-round leader Sung Kang shot 2-over 73 and was T17 at 8-under.

Matthew Wolff (67), who lost in a playoff last year, was 11 under with winner Matt Jones (67), Adam Hadwin (64), Andrew Putnam (64), Slovakian silver medallist Rory Sabbatini (66), Harry Hall (65) and Talor Gooch (67).

Also Read : Lahiri off to great start in Shriners as Korea's Kang takes lead

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Madrid, Oct 9 (Golf news) Indian golfer Shubhankar Sharma played one of his best rounds of the season to force his way into contention at the halfway stage of the Acciona Open de España.

Sharma followed up his first round 67 with a seven-under 64 that sparkled even more with two eagles, one each on a Par-5 and a Par-4.

The two-time European Tour winner is now 11-under and tied for third place. He is just two shots behind leader Wil Besseling and one behind World No. 1 Jon Rahm.

Sharma's best card this season has been eight-under 63 on the final day of the Cazoo Open supported by Gareth Bale in July.

In the second round this week, Sharma was in blistering form despite a bogey start. He birdied third, eagled the Par-5 third but dropped a shot again on fourth.

Calming himself with pars on the remaining four holes on the front nine, he was one-under for first nine.

Then he exploded with birdies at 10th, 12th and 14th and 17th before holing his second shot for a second eagle in the round. That gave him a 64 and a shot at the Acciona Open de Espana.

Sharma has been finding his feet slowly but steadily this season and has three Top-10s at Made in Himmerland, Cazoo Classic and BMW PGA and two other finishes in Top-16 in Italian Open and Hero Open.

"The game has been coming back and I am feeling way more confident than I did at the start of the season," said Sharma.

Leader Besseling was bogey free for 36 holes as he lead the way into the weekend. Rahm was just one shot back in the Spanish capital.

The Dutchman followed an opening 64 with a 65 at Club de Campo Villa de Madrid to get to 13-under and he will face the biggest day of his career in the final group on day three.

Rahm carded a 67 as he looks for a third consecutive win at his home open and, with the weekend entirely sold out, the leading duo will take a bumper crowd round with them in the Spanish sun.

Another home favourite Adri Arnaus and England's Ross McGowan were at 11 under alongside Sharma. Yet another Spaniard Rafa Cabrera Bello, Frenchman Julien Guerrier and Scotland's Grant Forrest were at 10-under.

Also Read : Joshi grabs top position, Ahlawat cards day's best to be tied second

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Las Vegas, Oct 8 (Golf news) India's Anirban Lahiri got off to a superb start with a 6-under 65 that included an eagle chip-in and five other birdies for a tied 10th place in the first round of the Shriners Children's Open here.

Lahiri's 65 put him in tied 10th place on a course that afforded low scores led by Sung Kang, who shot 10-under 61 with an eagle finish from 18 feet. He led by two strokes over Charley Hoffman, Chad Ramey and fellow South Korean Sungjae Im, who are all tied for second at 8-under 63.

Indian-American Sahith Theegala, who was T-8 last week, shot 1-under 70 and was way behind at 99th.

Lahiri, still searching for his maiden PGA Tour win said, "I'm quite happy with the way I played. I drove it really well today so it was nice to get that rhythm going with the drivers, that was definitely something that was not there last week.

"I've put in some work with (coach) Vijay (Divecha) earlier and on the weekend." He added, "It was nice to pick up an extra shot on that 16th with a nice eagle chip-In from a difficult position (about 45 feet) but I just feel like I could have probably come in a little bit better." Lahiri hit only 8 of the 18 greens in regulation, even though he drove well in the first round. But he had no misses inside 10 feet and had a fine chip-in from 45 feet, to boot.

Lahiri, starting from 10th birdied the par-4 12th, and then the 13th followed by another at the par-4 15th.

At the par-5 16th, Lahiri chipped in his third shot from 15 yards off the green for an eagle to get to 5-under for the round. Then on the 196-yard par-3 17th, Lahiri's tee shot went 170 yards to the right side of the fairway and he missed the green in regulation.

Also Read : Joshi grabs top position, Ahlawat cards day's best to be tied second

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Tourrettes (France), Oct 8 (Golf news) Indian golfer Amandeep Drall enjoyed another fine start as she carded 1-under 71 and was tied 5th at the end of the first day at the Terre Blanche Ladies Open on the Ladies European Access Series Tour.

Another Indian in the field, Vani Kapoor (77), was tied 52nd.

Amandeep, a multiple winner on the domestic Hero Women's Pro Golf Tour, had four birdies against three bogeys. Her four birdies came in a stretch between sixth and 11th.

Sweden's Linn Grant who was ranked fourth in the World Amateur Golf Ranking before turning professional in August, held a two-shot lead at the end of day one after she fired an opening round of 68.

Three players were two strokes behind Grant with Russia's Nina Pegova, France's Mathilda Cappeliez and Denmark's Amalie Leth-Nissen all shooting rounds of 70 (-2).

Five players were tied 5th, including England's Lily May Humphreys and Sweden's Sofie Bringner, who are second and fourth on the Order of Merit. They were joined by France's Emilie Alonso, India's Drall and Finland's Niina Liias on one-under-par.

Also Read : Tvesa top Indian at Estrella Damm event in Spain; Diksha also makes cut

News Source : PTI

New Delhi, Oct 7 (Cricket news) The ICC will have psychologists on board to counsel players on mental health issues during their stay in bio-secure environment for the upcoming T20 Word Cup in Oman and UAE, senior official Alex Marshall said on Thursday.

Marshall, the head of ICC's Integrity Unit and also in charge of overseeing a foolproof bio-secure environment, said that the respective team managements are expected to deal with potential "bio-bubble breaches", while advising strict adherence to the rules during the showpiece which begins from October 17.

"Some people, we have to accept that their mental health will be affected in controlled environment. The ICC will make available 24 hours a day, a psychologist to speak to any individual who seeks help," Marshall said during a virtual media interaction.

"We are also providing lot of resources for people to address the issue and within their own team and squads they bring their own medical staff, have own systems in place to take care of players.

"...but from ICC's perspective they have got lots of resources, very good resources and used in other sports, proven to work well, as professional support 24x7 a day for somebody who seeks it." He said the ICC acknowledges the face that some players have seen too many bubbles and may be feeling the strain.

"There are number of things that we are doing, making materials available and offering psychological support," he said.

Marshall said he expects all the teams to be responsible and not break the sanctity of the bio-bubble but if such an incident occurs, the team managements will have to act so that everyone adheres to the rules.

"If people stick to rules and maintain discipline, we shouldn't have any problem. We would expect management of any team, if they find any person not adhering to rules, to take that very seriously. We dont think there will be any breaches," he said.

However, he dropped hints that the ICC won't have a say on whether a potential bubble breach can lead to eviction or not as it has been left to the teams.

"If there is a breach that is a matter of the management of that particular team to treat that seriously. That's as far as I can go at the moment." The ICC will be allowing the close family (wive, children and partner) of the players to be with them in the protected environment so that they remain in a happy space.

"Close families can be important factor in reducing stress and making it an enjoyable environment for players. We have allowed small number of close families, family members have to go through phase of isolation and make sure they are negative, they have to stay in managed environment," he informed.

For the players, they can move around as long as they remain in a managed environment. There would be recreational activities, including a marked area to play golf and also city tours if they wish to avail them.

With a bio-bubble in place, the players won't be able to mingle with fans.

"No selfie with fans," Marshall quipped.

For all the teams entering the UAE, there will be six days of quarantine after which they enter the managed environment.

"We also expect a few positive cases to emerge and there will be 10 days of isolation for the particular individual. Anyone who is deemed close contact to the person and has been around the COVID-positive individual for more than 15 minutes without mask will have to isolate for six days." However, Marshall didn't give any clear answer when asked what happens if a player in a particular team is found positive on match day and the opposition team refuses to take the field.

Also Read : ICC to replace 'batsman' with 'batter' from T20 WC onwards

News Source : PTI

New Delhi, Oct 6 (Golf news) Bengaluru's Khalin Joshi carded a six-under 66 to grab the top position at the halfway stage of the Rs 70 lakh TATA Steel PGTI MP Cup at the Delhi Golf Club here on Wednesday.

The 29-year-old Joshi, the winner of the 2018 Panasonic Open here, struck seven birdies and a bogey to move up six places and take the sole lead in round two as his total read nine-under 135.

Gurugram's Veer Ahlawat (72-65) shot the day's best score of 65 to gain 37 spots and move into tied second at seven-under 137.

Sri Lanka’s N Thangaraja (70-67) and round one joint leaders Manu Gandas (67-70) of Gurugram and Chikkarangappa S (67-70) of Bengaluru were also tied for second place along with Ahlawat.

The cut went at two-over 146. Fifty-two professionals and one amateur made the cut.

Joshi began the day on a high, thanks to a 15-feet birdie conversion on the first. He added two more birdies and a bogey on the front-nine to make the turn at two-under.

He began building momentum on the back-nine with an excellent approach shot from 140 yards on the 11th that landed inches from the pin for a tap-in birdie. He followed that up with a 15-feet putt for par save on the 12th.

Joshi wrapped up the day with three more birdies on the last five holes. He fired another outstanding approach from 130 yards on the 15th which missed the hole narrowly and gave him an easy birdie putt.

Ahlawat, on the other hand, went error-free as he made 16 greens in regulation and had a chip-in birdie.

Kolkata's Viraj Madappa and Gurugram's Kartik Sharma were tied sixth at six-under 138.

PGTI Order of Merit leader Karandeep Kochhar of Chandigarh was tied eighth at five-under 139.

Delhi's Rashid Khan, the overnight joint leader, slipped to tied 12th at four-under 140 after a round of 73.

Shiv Kapur shot a 67 to be tied 15th at three-under 141. Another star attraction SSP Chawrasia was tied 34th at one-over 145.

Round one joint leader Ajay Baisoya of Delhi dropped to tied 42nd at two-over 146.

The only amateur to make the cut was Arvind Khanna. He was tied 42nd at two-over 146.

Olympian Udayan Mane missed the cut as he totalled 10-over 154 while Jyoti Randhawa withdrew from the event due to an injury.

Also Read : Top Indians Chawrasia, Chikka, Mane thrilled at return of Asian Tour events

News Source : PTI

New Delhi, Oct 5 (Golf news) Indian golfers regular on the Asian Tour were thrilled at the announcement of two events in November-December and possibly two more after the Christmas and New Year break as part of the 2020-21 schedule, which was disrupted by the pandemic.

The Asian Tour last held an event in March 2020 and the last 18 months have seen players across the region struggle.

While some managed to see some action in Japan and Korea, many had to find jobs outside of golf to survive. The Indians were fortunate in that sense as some local events had begun as action slowly returned to the golf courses.

The Asian Tour on Tuesday announced that it is all set to stage a series of season-ending tournaments to finish its 2020-21 schedule, ensuring that the Tour can complete its Order of Merit, and crown a Merit list champion.

The Tour make its eagerly awaited return by staging back-to-back inaugural events at two of the most renowned golf courses on Phuket Island in Thailand with purses of USD 1 million respectively.

The Blue Canyon Championship will first take place at Blue Canyon Country Club from November 25-28, followed by the Laguna Phuket Championship, which will be held at the Laguna Phuket Resort from December 2-5.

The Asian Tour plans two more events in Singapore over consecutive weeks in January after the Christmas and New Year breaks. All four tournaments will be broadcast live on television.

Six-time winner on Asian Tour and 2016 Olympian SSP Chawrasia, who did manage to play in Europe in the last 18 months, welcomed the return to action on Asian Tour.

"I think it is a great relief for hundreds of players in Asia. I had quite a few starts in Europe, but for many Indians and players from elsewhere in Asian, the Asian Tour is crucial. So from that point of view this is great news." S Chikkarangappa, one of the leading Indian stars on Asian Tour was thrilled.

"I got my job back. After being 'unemployed' and 'jobless' for so long, finally some great news of tournaments on Asian Tour.

"The pandemic had put a stop to all action and thanks to Asian Tour we will soon be able to see more play. It was a tough job for Asian Tour as different countries have different protocols, so a lot of logistics are required." Another player happy with the news would be Rashid Khan, the top Indian on the Asian Tour Order of Merit, when the Tour was halted last year in March. He had often expressed a desire to play on the Tour once again.

Olympian Udayan Mane, said, "I am hoping I can get into the events in Thailand and later as I am on a country spot, but any which way this is good news for all of us, who have been desperate to get back to the course on the Asian Tour." Cho Minn Thant, Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer, Asian Tour, said, "After a difficult 18 months the Asian Tour is thrilled to announce that it is able to restart in Q4 of 2021, and most importantly expedite the return of our membership to elite competition." He added, "The Asian Tour have been working around the clock to resume competition and crown the Merit list champion ‒ a challenge made more difficult by our reach across many countries and each of their COVID-related protocols.

"We are confident of being able to complete our season despite several remaining challenges created by the pandemic." The top 30 players from the final Order of Merit will receive automatic entry into next year's season-opening USD 5 million Saudi International powered by SoftBank Investment Advisers.

The four Asian Tour events played in early 2020 will be added to the blended 2020-21 schedule. Australian Wade Ormsby has led the Order of Merit throughout the hiatus since winning the Hong Kong Open last January.

Jazz Janewattananond, the 2019 Order of Merit champion, has confirmed he will compete in the Phuket events ‒ which will be backed by the Sports Authority of Thailand (SAT).

All four tournaments will be played in bubbles and will adhere to local government standard operating procedures. In addition, all players will need to be fully vaccinated in order to compete.

Also Read : Aditi shoots 73, Indian-American Ganne cards 70 on LPGA

News Source : PTI

New Delhi, Oct 4 (Golf news) Olympians Udayan Mane and SSP Chawrasia, along with the seasoned duo of Shiv Kapur and Jyoti Randhawa, will compete at the TATA Steel PGTI MP Cup here from Tuesday.

The tournament carries a prize purse of Rs 70 lakh and marks the PGTI's return to the Delhi Golf Course with a full-field event after seven years.

The foreign challenge will be led by Sri Lankans Mithun Perera and N Thangaraja and Bangladeshis Md Zamal Hossain Mollah and Badal Hossain.

The Pro-Am event will be held on October 9.

The tournament is a 72-hole stroke-play competition with the cut to be declared after 36 holes. The top-50 players and ties will make the cut for the last two rounds.

The event is a part of the international golfing calendar with Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points allocated to it.

The top 5 finishers at the event will earn OWGR points.

"...this new event which is a major step in helping Indian professional golf and PGTI bounce back after the six-month break caused by the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic," said Uttam Singh Mundy, CEO, PGTI.

"The newly redesigned DGC will pose its own set of challenges for the professionals which will add to the excitement of the event," he added.

A golf clinic will be held by PGTI on Wednesday during which Chawrasia and Kapur will share tips on the nuances of the game with DGC members.

Also Read : Sharma misses cut despite valiant attempt on back nine

News Source : PTI

Jackson (USA), Oct 4 (Golf news) Indian American golfer Sahith Theegala could not pull off his maiden PGA Tour triumph but finished a career-best tied-8th at the Sanderson Farms Championship here.

The 23-year-old, whose parents shifted to US from India, had a final round of 1-under 71, even as Sam Burns, 25, earned his second Tour victory in his 87th start following a one-shot win over Nick Watney and Cameron Young.

Burns closed with a 67 to end his week on 22-under.

After holding at least a share of the lead each of the first three rounds this week, rookie Theegala finished at 19-under and tied eighth.

India's Anirban Lahiri, who missed the cut this week, will return next week at the Shriners Hospital Open, as will Theegala.

Korea's Si Woo Kim produced his career's fourth hole-in-one on the PGA Tour for a tied eighth finish, which maintained his solid start to the new 2021-22 Season.

The 26-year-old Kim hit the magical ace with a four iron on the par-3 seventh hole at Country Club of Jackson en route to a final round of 6-under 66 and 19-under 269 total that left him three strokes behind winner Burns.

In the season-opening event two weeks ago, Kim, a three-time PGA TOUR winner finished T-11th at the Fortinet Championship and enjoyed his first top-10 of the new season following an impressive final round here which saw him hit 12 fairways and 17 greens in regulation.

"I did not know it went in. It was hard to see it," said Kim of his hole-in-one.

"Unfortunately, the camera did not get the moment. I cannot keep it and share it with golf fans. However, it definitely helped to keep the score low." Chinese Taipei's C.T. Pan finished a further shot back on 18-under in equal 11th place after signing off with a 68.

Two weeks ago, Pan, the Olympic Games bronze medallist, finished tied sixth in the Fortinet Championship. Another Korean, Sungjae Im, settled for tied 31st position following a 69 to end the week on 13-under.

Also Read : Lahiri has a tough day on greens, exits early at Sanderson Farms

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Barcelona, Oct 4 (Golf news) Indian golfer Tvesa Malik endured mixed fortunes in windy conditions during the final round as she carded a one-over 73 to finish 20th at the Estrella Damm Ladies Open presented by Catalunya in Sitges, Spain.

It was another solid finish for Tvesa, who has been fairly consistent through the season as she attempts to achieve one of her goals of getting into the Top-10 of the Order of Merit. Her tournament total stood at one-over 217.

Diksha Dagar, playing her first event since the Olympics, dropped to a final round of 78 with two birdies, four bogeys and two doubles on 17th and 18th and finished T-58th.

Sweden's Maja Stark, whose name means 'strong' in Swedish, won for the second time in her last three starts on the Ladies European Tour after firing a superb tournament low round of 65. It carried her to eight-under-par and two strokes clear of Pia Babnik.

Playing in just her fifth LET event since turning professional in August, the 21-year-old from the small town of Abbekas in Sweden started the day in a tie for 17th place on one-under-par and came from seven strokes behind the overnight leader Magdalena Simmermacher to set the clubhouse target at Club de Golf Terramar.

The 17-year-old Slovenian Pia Babnik finished outright second on six-under-par, with Spain's Maria Hernandez, Finland’s Krista Bakker and Scotland's Kylie Henry tied for third on four-under-par.

Simmermacher held a four-stroke lead overnight and was looking to become the first LET winner from Argentina, but she dropped four shots in her first three holes to lose her advantage, eventually signing for a 79 to end in a share of 14th place.

The next LET tournament is the Aramco Team Series in New York, which takes place at Glen Oaks in a fortnight.

Also Read : Sharma misses cut despite valiant attempt on back nine

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St. Andrews, Oct 3 (Golf news) Indian golfer Shubhankar Sharma produced a solid 4-under 68 in the third round of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship but still missed the cut.

Sharma’s effort came at Kingsbarns, after 70 at St. Andrews and 78 at Carnoustie. It was his first missed cut after making eight cuts in a row and that included two Top-10s and as many finishes in Top-20.

Ajeetesh Sandhu (71-77-76) also the missed cut.

Danny Willett will take a three-stroke lead into the final round as he goes in search of his eighth European Tour title.

The Englishman, whose last win came at the 2019 BMW PGA Championship, carded a bogey-free six under par third round on the Old Course as he moved into a commanding position at the top of the leaderboard.

After rounds of 67 and 69 at Carnoustie and Kingsbarns, Willett signed for a 14 under par total after his round of 66 at St Andrews.

Sharma looked like having a chance to squeeze into the cut line as he birdied the 10th, 12th and 14th holes and needed two more birdies. He did get them on 16th and 17th but he also dropped shots on 15th and 18th and those cost him dear as he missed the cut by two.

Sharma was also let down by putts not falling on the front nine where he had just one birdie but no bogeys. Overall he had six birdies against two bogeys in his 68.

The 2016 Masters Tournament winner is three strokes clear of two-time Alfred Dunhill Links Champion Tyrrell Hatton, who is searching for a third victory at this event within five years.

Joining Hatton in a share of second place are 2019 Open Champion Shane Lowry, England’s Richard Bland and Irishman John Murphy.

Willett and his amateur partner Jimmy Dunne also share the lead in the team competition on 27 under par.

Also Read : Lahiri has a tough day on greens, exits early at Sanderson Farms

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Barcelona, Oct 3 (Golf news) Tvesa Malik and Diksha Dagar made the cut at the Estrella Damm Open, while four other Indians exited early on the second day of the Ladies European Tour event here.

Tvesa, who had three birdies against three bogeys, dropped a shot on par-5 which must have hurt her. Yet at even par with rounds 72-72 she is T-22 and the top Indian in the field.

Diksha Dagar, who is returning to action on the LET for the first time since the Olympic Games in August, added 74 to her first round 72 and at two-over 146 she is T-39.

Tvesa, who had a runner-up finish at Gant Ladies Open, is looking to get into Top-10 of the Race to Costa Del Sol, which is the Order of Merit rankings list for LET.

Vani Kapoor (74-76), Gaurika Bishnoi (70-81), Amandeep Drall (76-76) and Ridhima Dilawari (79-79) missed the cut.

For Gaurika, it was disappointing as she was T-5 after the first round but a series of errors ended her hopes on the second day.

Argentine Magdalena Simmermacher added a 67 to her opening 69 for a total of eight-under-par and took a four-stroke lead into the final round.

Playing in warm and sunny conditions at Club de Golf Terramar, the 25-year-old from Buenos Aires carded three birdies and one bogey on the front nine to make the turn in 35 before adding another three birdies in a row from holes 14 to 16 to come back in 32.

Simmermacher could become the first representative from her country to win on the LET.

Spain's María Hernández (70), Finland's Krista Bakker (70), England's Gabriella Cowley (68) and Scotland's Kylie Henry (69) shared the second place on four-under-par.

Slovenian Pia Babnik carded the lowest round of the tournament so far in the second round: a bogey-free 66, which was 10 shots better than her opening round.

Also Read : Aditi shoots 73, Indian-American Ganne cards 70 on LPGA

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Jackson, Oct 2 (Golf news) A late bogey on the back nine cost Anirban Lahiri dearly as he missed the cut in his opening outing on the 2021-22 season at the Sanderson Farms Championship on the PGA Tour.

Lahiri, who shot three-under 69 on the first day, added one-under 71 but it fell short of the cut by one shot.

The Indian was four-under 140 for two days and the cut fell at five-under 139.

It was a tough day on the greens for Lahiri, who missed a bunch of putts inside 10-12 feet, including a five-footer and two others less than eight feet. He had three birdies against two bogeys.

Meanwhile, Sahith Theegala, an Indian-American, kept a share of the lead even as Will Zalatoris set a course record with an 11-under 61.

Theegala, Zalatoris and Nick Watney share the lead at 13-under.

Zalatoris, voted the PGA TOUR rookie of the year despite not having full status last year, made it look so simple at the Country Club of Jackson that his longest putt for par was 3 feet.

Theegala held his own after opening with a 64, new territory for the California rookie in just his second start as a PGA TOUR member.

He chipped in for eagle on the par-5 third hole to get right back in the mix. Theegala finished with a 30-foot birdie putt for a 67.

Among those who missed was Sergio Garcia, the defending champion playing a week after a draining Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits.

Former US Open champion Gary Woodland took two shots from behind the ninth green on his final hole and made bogey for a 73 to miss the cut by one.

Cameron Young and Hayden Buckley each shot 65 and were one shot out of the lead. Roger Sloan of Canada shot 67 and was two behind.

Among the Asians, CT Pan (68-67) was the best at nine-under and he was followed by Sungjae Im (67-69) at eight-under. Si Woo Kim (66-71) was seven-under.

Also Read : Shubhankar recovers to finish with 2-under 70, lies 55th at Dunhill Links

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Galloway, Oct 2 (Golf news) India's Aditi Ashok did not have the best of starts as she carded two-over 73 in the first round to lie tied 104th at the ShopRite LPGA Classic.

The Indian will need a low second round to make the cut.

However, Megha Ganne, a local New Jersey amateur, who shot into fame by leading the US Women's Open and then finishing T-14, had a better day at one-under 70 and was T-51st.

Ganne, playing on a sponsor exemption, played in the same group as Aditi and the local Indian fans loved it.

Aditi, starting on tenth, ran into early trouble with three bogeys between 12th and 15th but steadied with a string of pars. She had just one birdie on fourth for a two-over 73.

Ganne had two birdies and two bogeys on her first nine, the back stretch of the course, and one birdie and no bogeys on the front nine.

On a day when low scores were aplenty, as many as 19 players shot 67 or better in the first round at the Bay Course in Galloway, N.J.

Jodi Ewart Shadoff, coming into the event after five straight missed cuts, shot six-under 65 and led the field alongside Korea's So Yeon Ryu.

The Englishwoman carded four birdies and an eagle to leap to the top of the leaderboard.

Ewart Shadoff matched Ryu in score and her score included an eagle on the par-5 third. Ryu also had an eagle and five birdies and one dropped shot.

Eight players are one behind the leaders at Tied-third at 5-under. That includes No. 2 Jin Young Ko, LPGA Hall of Famer Inbee Park, 10-time LPGA Tour winner Brooke Henderson and Matilda Castren. Park is playing her first LPGA event since the AIG Women’s Open in August.

Also Read : Gaurika Bishnoi lying third in Spain; Tvesa and Diksha 23rd

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Barcelona, Oct 1 (Golf news) Gaurika Bishnoi returned a solid 2-under 70 in the first round of the Estrella Damm Ladies Open to be just two shots behind leader Nobuhle Dlamini of Swaziland (68) and one behind Belgian Manon De Roey (69).

It was a fine effort by Gaurika who spent much of 2020 away from golf because of the pandemic and just began playing in Europe over the last two months. She was tied third.

Meanwhile among other Indians, Tvesa Malik and Diksha Dagar shot even par 72 each to be Tied-23rd.

Vani Kapoor (74) was T-65 while Amandeep Drall (76) was T-94 and Ridhima Dilawari (79) was T-114.

While Vani will need a steady second round to make the cut, Amandeep and Ridhima will need very low second rounds to make the cut.

Gaurika, who is playing this week on an invite, birdied third and ninth to turn in two-under, but dropped shots on 10th and 11th meant she was back to even.

The Gurgaon golfer however fought back and birdied par-4 13th and Par-5 16th to total 70.

Tvesa began with a birdie but three bogeys in next five holes set her back a lot. She rallied with birdies on ninth and 12th and parred the rest to ensure an even par round.

Diksha opened with two bogeys and also closed with a bogey. In between she had five birdies and two more bogeys for 72.

Leader Nobuhle had three birdies in a row from second to fourth for a fine start and then added further birdies on eighth, 12th and 14th.

She dropped shots on 11th and 16th.

Also Read : Tvesa, Diksha lead six-member Indian challenge in Spain

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St. Andrews (Scotland), Oct 1 (Golf news) Indian golfer Shubhankar Sharma rallied after a rough start to finish the day at tied 55th place at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship here..

Coming off a fine Top-10 finish at BMW PGA two weeks ago, he was 2-under 70.

Sharma has had three Top-10s and a few Top-20 and Top-30 results this season as he looked for a Top-60 finish on the Race to Dubai rankings.

Starting on the 10th, Sharma opened with a birdie but gave away a triple bogey on 11th and had another bogey on 16th, at which point he was 3-over for the tournament.

His recovery started from the 18th where he got a birdie and added four more on his second nine, the front side of the Old Course at St. Andrews. He birdied the second, third, fifth and seventh and finished with a presentable 2-under 70.

Ajeetesh Sandhu, also starting on 10th, began with two bogeys and ended the day with a bogey on ninth. In between he had four bridies for a card of 1-under 71 at Kingsbarns and was tied 79th.

Tyrrell Hatton opened his bid for a third Alfred Dunhill title with a perfect start, producing a stunning back nine of 29 at Carnoustie Golf Links to join a four-way tie for the lead after round one.

Coming from Europe's Ryder Cup defeat in Wisconsin last week, he started with an opening 8-under par round of 64 to join Spaniard Adri Arnaus, Nicolas Colsaerts of Belgium and China's Li Haotong at the top of the leaderboard.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, which Hatton won in 2016 and 2017.

The six-time European Tour winner is teeing it up alongside his father Jeff in the unique event that sees professionals and amateurs playing across three iconic links courses at Carnoustie, Kingsbarns and the Old Course St Andrews.

Arnaus and Colsaerts were both playing the Old Course, while Li found form in spectacular style with a bogey-free round at Kingsbarns Golf Links.

Ryder Cupper Colsaerts has two top-10s at this event and shot his lowest ever score at the Old Course having played just 18 holes of golf since the BMW PGA Championship.

Also Read : Lahiri rallies after early bogeys for 69, Theegala leads Sanderson Farms

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Jackson (US), Oct 1 (Golf news) India's Anirban Lahiri fought back after a mediocre start to finish with a creditable 3-under 69 in the opening round of the Sanderson Farms Championship here. He was placed tied 32.

Playing his first event of the new 2021-22 season, Lahiri started from the 10th and had two bogeys in his first nine and turned in 2-over.

A fine comeback with five birdies on the second nine, which was the front side of the Country Club of Jackson, saw Lahiri make a disappointing beginning to a solid first round.

Leading the field was Indian-American Sahith Theegala, who had eight birdies and no bogeys to take his first opening round lead on the PGA Tour.

The rookie American, whose parents Karuna and Murali migrated from India, earned his card through the Korn Ferry Tour Finals.

A changed driver at the Korn Ferry finals and some renewed confidence has put Theegala in the front seat after the first round.

Lahiri hit 12 of 18 greens in regulation during his first round. He missed quite a few fairways on his front nine and turned in 2-over.

The second nine saw a lot of improvement from the moment he hit his second shot to seven feet on the 11th for a birdie.

A 29-footer birdie on 12th added to the momentum. Two great pitches from just over 100 yards to three feet and one and a half feet saw him birdie 14th and 15th. He added one more on 17th from nine feet and the score could have been better but for a five-foot miss for birdie on 18th.

Theegala leads at 8-under, while Nick Watney and Harold Varner III are tied for second at 7-under; and Si Woo Kim, Roger Sloan, and Kurt Kitayama are tied for fourth at 6 under.

Korean Si Woo Kim was the best Asian in tied fourth position following a superb round consisting of seven birdies against a lone bogey for 6-under 66.

Fellow Korean Sungjae Im, who was second here two years ago, shot an opening 5-under 67, which featured a couple of monster putts to be the best Asian at T-7.

The 23-year-old Im was hot with his putter as he picked six birdies, including holing putts of 32 feet and 27 feet on the 13th and 18th holes respectively.

Chinese Taipei's C.T. Pan opened with a 68 while another Korean, Sung Kang, also opened with a 68 to share 17th place. As Lahiri carded a 69 Kiradech Aphibarnrat of Thailand shot a 71.

Also Read : Lahiri set for new season with PGA Tour among his immediate goals

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Barcelona, Sep 29 (Golf News) Tvesa Malik and Diksha Dagar will lead a large group of Indian women golfers as the Ladies European Tour caravan reaches Spain for the Estrella Damm Ladies Open presented by Catalunya this week.

Tvesa, who is aiming for a Top-10 finish on the Order of Merit, is currently 23rd while Diksha is 40th.

Apart from the Hero sponsored duo Malik and Dagar, the other Indians in the field and looking to make a mark are Amandeep Drall, Vani Kapoor, Gaurika Bishnoi and Ridhima Dilawari, who have all shown a marked improvement in their performances.

Malik will play with Kim Metraux and Eleanor Givens, while Dagar plays with Cassandra Hall and Laura Gomez Riaz.

Gaurika Bishnoi is paired with Maria Herraez Galvez and Molly Lawrence, while Amandeep plays with Sophie Keech and Lucrezia Colombotto Rosso. Vani Kapoor starts her first round with Ana Pelaez and Emilie Alonso and Ridhima is paired with Lauren Taylor and Georgina Blackman.

Malik is searching for her first win after having finished second at Gant Ladies Open, while Diksha, winner of 2019 South African Open, was part of the winning team at Aramco Series London.

There will be plenty of local Spaniards looking to make the most of home comforts at the Estrella Damm Ladies Open.

A score of local golfers will want to follow in the footsteps of Carlota Ciganda, who lifted the trophy in 2019, and will face some of the biggest names in the sport including Emily Kristine Pedersen, who helped Team Europe defend the Solheim Cup earlier this month, as well as dominating the 2020 Race to Costa del Sol.

Spanish eyes will be on Ana Peláez and how she responds to the challenge this week, after dazzling last year at the Andalusia Costa del Sol Open as an amateur, before joining the professional ranks this year at the Aramco Team Series in Sotogrande.

The 13-year-old Nagore Martínez Salcedo comes into the tournament after finishing second in the highly prestigious Amundi Evian International Championship, having missed out on the victory by virtue of playoff in France.

In total there will be 20 Spanish stars to look out for when the action gets underway on Friday. 

Also Read: Lahiri set for new season with PGA Tour among his immediate goals

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Jackson (US), Sep 29 (Golf news) Indian golfer Anirban Lahiri is all set to open his 2021 campaign at the Country Club in Jackson with the Sanderson Farms Championship on Thursday, with a PGA Tour among his immediate goals.

In a last-gasp effort, Lahiri managed to make the Top-125 to qualify for the FedExCup and also keep his Tour card.

Lahiri plays his first two rounds with Russell Knox and J J Spain. They start at 12.22 pm in the afternoon wave from the first tee.

Lahiri said, "I skipped last week (Fortinet Championship) and then came the Ryder Cup. Now leading up to next week (Sanderson) with all the preparations and time off I am hoping I can hit the ground running." He added, "Yeah I mean I have lots of objectives, lots of targets in the coming season. I need to start checking off my list of things that I need to achieve that have kind of got piled up now over the last few years so time to get some of those things checked off the list." One of his immediate goals is winning his first PGA Tour title despite having been on it since 2015. He has even been runner-up and, in the just-concluded season, he was T-3 at Barbasol. So, he just needs to get that final step done.

Lahiri has checked in for the first two events – Sanderson Farms and Shriners Hospital. He is unlikely to get into the limited field event, the CJ Cup and Zozo Championship, but will surely play as many events early in the season to get set when 2022 starts.

Lahiri has admitted that keeping his card was at the back of his mind even as he prepared for the Olympics after finishing T-3 at the Barbasol Championship.

With the Tour still having a tournament after the Olympics and Lahiri missing an event due to the Olympics, there was always an element of risk, but the Indian survived.

"Sure keeping the card is a goal for every player," said Lahiri, who had come through the Korn Ferry Tour final series route before the pandemic.

He said, "Frankly, there was a lot on my plate and I think I am quite pleased with the way I handled the pressure with covid situation, And you know how challenging it can be for not fully exempt players, not knowing till the week if you are into the tournament or not.

"So, I am glad I was able to do that and I had to dig deep. I am proud of how I managed that." He also said, "I was totally spent every which way and all this happened within 3-4 months of having Covid." Leading the Asian challenger is Korea's K.H. Lee who takes his bow in the PGA TOUR's 2021-22 season at this week's Sanderson Farms Championship with three clear goals in his mind -- secure a second TOUR victory, break into the world's top-50 and qualify for the International Team to compete in the 2022 Presidents Cup against the United States.

Off the golf course, Lee, 30, was also over the moon as he and his wife, Joo Yeon Yu, welcomed the arrival of their first child, a daughter named Celine Yuna Lee, in July.

Asia's strong line-up this week includes fellow Koreans Sungjae Im, who finished runner-up here in 2019, Sung Kang, Si Woo Kim and Seung Yul Noh, Thailand's Kiradech Aphibarnrat, who finished T-2 at the BMW PGA Championship on the European Tour earlier this month, Lahiri and Chinese Taipei's C.T. Pan.

The field also comprises 2020 champion Sergio Garcia, who comes straight from the Ryder Cup, 2015 winner Peter Malnati, Keegan Bradley, Cam Davis, Charley Hoffman, Brandt Snedeker and Sebastian Munoz.

The Country Club of Jackson opens its doors for the eighth consecutive year to host the Sanderson Farms Championship.

Also Read : Stronger and eager Lahiri all set to start PGA Tour next week

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(Golf news) Steve Stricker’s Team USA utterly dominated the proceedings at the Ryder Cup as Padraig Harrington's European team suffered the heaviest defeat in Ryder Cup history. With a six point advantage heading into the final day in Wisconsin, Team USA required just 3.5 points to regain their trophy and a dominant performance saw them secure a second consecutive home victory.

Team Europe needed a miracle and were constantly the second best side throughout the contest. Rory McIlroy led Team Europe for the opening match of the third consecutive Ryder Cup and was the only highlight in an otherwise disappointing campaign for Europe. Patrick Cantlay sealed his unbeaten debut by seeing off Shane Lowry 4&2 while Scottie Scheffler inflicted the first defeat by despatching world number 1 Jon Rahm.

Sergio Garcia’s 100% record was ended by Bryson DeChambeau with a 3&2 win that all but assured a victory for Team USA while Collin Morikawa’s half point against Viktor Hovland ensured that the trophy will be retained by the hosts. Dustin Johnson narrowly won against Paul Casey to become the first American to win all five of his matches since Larry Nelson in 1979. Ian Poulter maintained his unbeaten record by defeating Tony Finau 3 & 2 while Lee Westwood added another point for Europe by winning two of his last three holes against Harris English.

By winning with a margin of 10 points, it’s the biggest victory since players from Continental Europe began competing in the Ryder Cup in 1979. The result breaks the previous record of 18.5-9.5 by the USA in 1981 and Europe in 2004 and 2006.

Also read: Stronger and eager Lahiri all set to start PGA Tour next week

Palm Beach (USA), Sep 23 (Golf News) Eager to be back on the course after a month-long break, Indian golfer Anirban Lahiri will compete in next week's Sanderson Farms Championship in Jackson, hoping to present a stronger and faster version of himself.

Having recovered from a tough season, and despite losing valuable time, tournaments and physical strength after contracting the COVID-19 infection, Lahiri did exceedingly to qualify for the Olympics.

He also managed a punishing schedule and kept his PGA Tour card even as many top stars lost their full playing rights.

Lahiri recognises that the way he played towards the end of the season and even got into the Play-offs after a long time, augured well for the coming year.

"I knew I was getting into my rhythm. So I want to continue with the same mindset. So, the key is to start this season in the same vein, albeit fresher, stronger, faster and I will be able to manage my schedule better and not have to wait till the last minute," he said.

Talking about the off-season, Lahiri said it was mostly spent rejuvenating in the company of his family.

"It has been a good month; a much-needed month which started off by taking some time off with the family to vacation. That was a first after a couple of years. It was probably what I needed after the hectic end to the schedule.

"Physically I found myself quite drained and I think I played like seven out of nine weeks to finish the year. That included travel to Japan and back and the play offs," said Lahiri.

"...the Olympics; managing the travel and the fatigue and the energy levels. Frankly, there was a lot on my plate and I am quite pleased with the way I handled the pressure with the COVID situation.

"I am glad I was able to do that and I had to dig deep. I am proud of how I managed that." Lahiri, who last won in 2015 at the Hero Indian Open and then made his move to the PGA Tour by the end of that year, is still looking for his first win on the PGA Tour.

"I was totally spent every which way and all this happened within 3-4 months of having COVID. The last two and a half weeks or so I have gotten back in the gym; have started working out a little bit more trying to work on endurance as much as possible.

"At the same time, I am trying to keep an eye on all my parameters...I am recovering my strength and have been in touch with my coach Vijay Divecha as well and just trying to get back into the same rhythm that I had found towards the end of the season last year." The Indian ace, who has now spent more than seven seasons on the PGA Tour, the toughest professional golf Tour in the world, is now all set to start the 2021-22 season next week.

"I want to hit the ground running and check some things off my list," added Lahiri.

Also Read : Saudi International, Asian Tour come together for historic USD 5 million event to start 2022 season

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(Tennis news): Laver Cup will begin from 24th of September and will be led by the next generation as the big three won’t be taking part this time. Team Europe is led by the US Open champion Daniil Medvedev and Diego Schwartzman will be leading team World, the tournament is back after a year as it was not held last year due to the pandemic.

The Laver Cup is played in honour of the living legend Rod Laver who dominated the game during the early 60’s and set records which still stands today. He is the only man to have achieved a calendar year slam and was the first player to do it when he won all the four slams in 1969. He played left handed and had strong groundstrokes along with an attacking serve and volley.

Laver also became the first Open era champion at Wimbledon in 1968, he had a total of 198 titles with 111 titles coming in the Open era. He also played doubles, winning all the slams except the US Open in the pre open era and won the Australian Open and Wimbledon in the open era. He was one of the highest paid players and had a total of 11 slams in which 5 of them came in the open era. Laver had laid the foundation for tennis, he was even present in this year’s US Open final and Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne is named after him. 

The Laver Cup was created by Roger Federer’s management company TEAM8 along with former player Jorge Paulo Lemann with a partnership of Tennis Australia. It is based on the Ryders Cup in Golf and the top players from the US play against top professionals from Europe. The Laver has two teams, team Europe and team world and there six players in each team who will be captained by a legend in the sport. The current captain for team Europe is Bjorn Borg and vice captain being Thomas Enqvist as for the team world they are being captained by John Mcenroe and the vice captain being Patrick Mcenroe. 

The Laver Cup does not have ATP points and is played between the top players. The players are chosen according to team ranking and the captain also chooses players, Team Europe has won the first three editions of the game and Alexander Zverev is the only one player from team Europe to feature in all the editions. John Isner and Nick Kyrgios and have also been part of all the editions in team world.

The first edition was notable as Federer and Rafael Nadal were part of the doubles team and in the second edition Federer and Novak Djokovic were part of the doubles team. There were outstanding performances from Sock in the doubles, Isner and Kyrgios in the singles. All the players watch the match on the court and also receive coaching during the match from the captain and the players.

Team Europe: Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Alexander Zverev, Andrey Rublev,  Matteo Berrettini and Casper Ruud.

Team World: Félix Auger-Aliassime, Denis Shapovalov, Diego Schwartzman, Reilly Opelka, John Isner and Nick Kyrgios.

John Isner is the only player this time who is aged above 30 as the rest of the players are all in their twenties. Isner who is 36 is the oldest and Félix Auger-Aliassime who is 21 is the youngest this time. Team Europe is filled with youngsters and is the favourite to win the Cup as for Team world they will look to hold the cup for the first time.

Also read:  Davis Cup: Bopanna and Ramkumar crack in must-win doubles match, India lose tie to Finland

Sentosa (Singapore), Sep 21 (Golf News) The Saudi International golf tournament will mark the start of a revamped 2022 schedule, as the prestigious event becomes sanctioned by the Asian Tour as part of a 10-year partnership, the organisers announced.

The tournament, scheduled to take place from February 3-6, will feature an increased purse of USD 5 million -- up from USD 3.5 million.

The Asian Tour is also in the process of finalising plans to complete its combined 2020/2021 schedule, which will be announced in due course.

Asian golfers have not seen action on their home turf since March last year.

The tournament, presented by SoftBank Investment Advisers, will continue to be broadcast globally from Royal Greens Golf & Country Club, near Jeddah.

“The importance and potential of Asia’s role in world golf is undeniable, not least due to its position as a global economic powerhouse. This partnership will unlock many opportunities for players, sponsors and fans of the game, " said Majed Al-Sorour, CEO of Golf Saudi and the Saudi Golf Federation.

Cho Minn Thant, Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer, Asian Tour, said: “This is an outstanding development for the Asian Tour that will create significant benefits for our membership, key stakeholders, and fans alike.

In 2021, the Saudi International presented one of the strongest fields in world golf, joining an elite group behind only the Majors and a small number of professional championships in the ranking points offered to competitors.

The Asian Tour, the official sanctioning body for golf in Asia and a full member of the International Federation of PGA Tours, will sanction the championship, opening new commercial prospects and enabling a greater number of professional golfers to qualify and compete for life-changing opportunities.

Also Read : Sandhu ends T-22 and Sharma finishes T-27 in Dutch Open

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Cromvoirt (The Netherlands), Sep 20 (Golf News) Indian golfer Ajeetesh Sandhu faltered in the final round with an even-par 72 to end tied 22nd at the Dutch Open here.

Sandhu slipped seven places from his T-15 position after the third round. He totalled 11-over 299 for the tournament.

Shubhankar Sharma, who began the week superbly with 70-66, let it slip over the weekend with 74-70 and finished T-27th.

SSP Chawrasia, who had an up-and-down week with a 67 on the second day followed by 82 on third, ended the week just the way he started with a 75 and was 77th.

Kristoffer Broberg ended a six-year drought as he claimed an emotional victory at the Dutch Open. The Swede won by three strokes after holding his nerve down the final stretch.

For Sandhu, who had 69s on first three days, the bogeys on 15th and 16th ended his hopes of a Top-15 finish.

Sharma, trying to avoid dropping bogeys as he did in round three, played a bogey free 70 with just two birdies.

Broberg, 35, said he went through "six years of hell" before battling his way back to triumph at Bernardus Golf. He won back in 2015 BMW Masters after a play-off with Patrick Reed.

Matthias Schmid (66) and Alejandro Canizares (68) seemed to pile pressure but Broberg held on despite dropped shots at the par five 12th and the 14th.

Broberg holed a long birdie putt at the par-three 17th to almost seal the event and then finished it with a par.

Schmid earned his best European Tour finish with an outright second place on 20-under, courtesy of a final round 66. Canizares claimed the third place despite a double-bogey finish and a 19-under total.

Also Read : Aditi finishes 73rd in Cambia Portland Classic Tour

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Portland (USA), Sep 20 (Golf News) India's Aditi Ashok ended a disappointing week with a six-over 78 that saw her finish 73rd at the 2021 Cambia Portland Classic golf tournament here.

Playing her first event in the US since mid-July and after the Olympic Games, Aditi shot 77-72-78. She will now look to shake off this rust and get back to the form in the last leg of the LPGA season from here on.

Meanwhile, Rolex Rankings No. 2 Jin Young Ko, starting for the first time in six weeks, dominated the field. She carded a bogey-free 69 in the third round, which was also the final round in the event shortened due to rain.

She won by four strokes over Jeongeun Lee and Su Oh.

Ko started with a one-stroke advantage over Gemma Dryburgh and as the latter fell back with a couple of bogey, Ko pulled ahead.

Oh and Lee kept Ko in their sights, with Lee striking an eagle at No.18 to pull within three shots but a confident Ko drained a 23-foot putt at 18th to close the win.

Oh and Lee both earned the best finishes of their LPGA Tour careers with their tie for the second spot.

Also Read : Aditi plays steady second round to make cut in Oregon

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Cromvort (The Netherlands), Sep 18 (Golf news) Indian golfer Shubhankar Sharma landed two eagles for a card of 6-under 66 to lie tied-9th after the second round of the Dutch Open tournament here.

At 8-under Sharma, who shot a 2-under 70 in the opening round, is four shots behind the leader, Kristoffer Broberg (68-64) who put his injury problems behind him to fire his lowest European Tour round for almost six years. He leads the field at 12-under.

Sharma, who has had four finishes in Top-16 in his last five starts, started with a bogey but quickly found his feet. He birdied third and sixth and turned in 1-under.

On the back nine, he eagled par-5 12th, where he had dropped a shot a day earlier. As if that was not enough he holed his second shot on par-4 15th for another eagle and then closed with a birdie on 18th.

With two eagles in the second round, he has three in two rounds having landed an eagle on the first day on Par-5 seventh.

Broberg made nine birdies with a single dropped shot as he carded a 64 that moved him to 12 under, a shot clear of Belgian Thomas Detry and Dane Marcus Helligkilde.

Ireland's Niall Kearney and German Maximilian Kieffer were then at 10-under but the headlines at Bernardus Golf belonged to 35-year-old Broberg, who has shown signs of his brilliant best in recent weeks after a tough few seasons.

The 35-year-old announced himself to the golfing world in 2012 as he won three events in four weeks on the European Challenge Tour, and within three years he was a European Tour winner at the BMW Masters.

He lost his card in 2017 and while he regained it at the Qualifying School, hip and knee injuries contributed to him playing just 11 events between 2018 and 2020.

Also read: Olympian Udayan Mane shoots sublime 65 to take first round lead at J&K Open

News source: PTI 

Puidox (Switzerland), Sep 18 (Golf news) India's Gaurika Bishnoi logged her best international result in a long time with a tied-6th finish at the Lavaux Ladies Open on the LET Access Series.

Returning to action after a long time, the five-time winner on the domestic circuit with cards of 71-72-69 finished 4-under and tied for sixth, while Ridhima Dilawari was tied-9th with rounds of 74-69-70.

While the money they earned may not even have been enough to cover their expenses, the confidence generated by finishing in top-10 will do them a lot of good.

Amandeep Drall (73-73-72), who was tied-4th at Flumserberg Open on LET Access Series a fortnight ago, finished tied-22nd alongside Pranavi Urs (71-74-73) who is making her big venture into Europe.

Vani Kapoor hoping to come out of her rusty form due to long break due to the pandemic (75-74-72) was tied-33rd.

Gaurika, who was rather successful on the domestic circuit till 2019, was like many others left stranded without any events to play during the pandemic. She is now getting back into the groove and a few invites into the Ladies European Tour will also help.

Scotland’s Gabrielle Macdonald prevailed in a playoff at the Lavaux Ladies Open to secure her second LET Access Series title in 2021. The 28-year-old began the day in a tie for fifth place on 4 under and produced a round of 69 to finish the tournament of seven-under-par.

She birdied 18th to get into a play-off with England’s Gemma Clews (68) who she beat with a par on the playoff hole. It was her second playoff victory in the space of four events.

Also read: Aditi plays steady second round to make cut in Oregon

A trio of French amateurs appeared next on the leaderboard with Ariane Klotz and Emma Falcher finishing T3 on six-under-par, while Nastasia Nadaud was one shot further back in solo fifth place. 

News source: PTI

Portland (US), Sep 18 (Golf news) Indian golfer Aditi Ashok quickly made up for her disappointing start on the opening day with a steady even par 72 in the second round to make the cut at the 2021 Cambia Portland Classic here.

Aditi, who carded a five-over 77 in the first round, is now Tied-57th and has the two weekend rounds to improve on her position as she gets into rhythm.

Aditi travelled to the US this week after a few starts in Europe before which she was in Tokyo for the Olympics, where she missed a medal by a whisker.

On the second day, Aditi putted much better despite finding as many greens in regulation as the first day. She birdied fifth and 18th but dropped shots on 11th and 12th.

The cut came at +6, with 77 players advancing to the weekend.

Rolex Rankings No. 2 Jin Young Ko (69-67) carded six birdies and just one bogey for a second-round 67 and sits on top of the leaderboard at 8-under heading into the weekend at Oregon Golf Club. She has a one-stroke advantage over Gemma Dryburgh (68-69) in second and a three-stroke lead over Carlota Ciganda in third.

Ciganda ended up barefoot at one point in her round of 71, taking off her shoes and socks to wade into a water hazard on No. 15. With her ball sitting up on a patch of grass just shy of the water, Ciganda knocked her 54-degree wedge to 15 feet and converted an unconventional birdie.

Seven players are tied for fourth at 4-under, with Alana Uriell joining that group thanks to a flurry of five consecutive birdies to end her round.

Also read: Disappointing start for Aditi in Portland Classic

News source: PTI 

Noida, Sep 16 (Golf news) Jahanvi Bakshi did not have the best card of the day but it was good enough to give her a share of the lead with Lakhmehar Pardesi in the ninth leg of the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour here on Thursday.

On a day when rains and heavy ground conditions made scoring difficult once again, Seher Atwal and amateur Sneha Singh carded creditworthy rounds of 2-over 74 each.

Jahanvi Bakshi, who had 78 on the first day, shot 3-over 75 on the second to get to 9-over 153, the same as Lakhmehar (75-78), who had a tough day. Seher Atwal (80-74) was tied third alongside Hitaashee Bakshi (79-75) at 10-over 154.

Though the scores have been high due to tough and wet conditions, which included a long rain stop this morning, the close tussle will make it a battle of nerves.

As many as six players are within two shots and they include the winners of the last two legs of the Hero WPG Tour.

Amateur Sneha Singh (81-74) improved by seven shots in her second round to get to 11-over 155 and she trailed the twin leaders by two shots. Sneha (81-74) was Tied-fifth with Trimann Saluja (77-78) and Shweta Mansingh was seventh (80-77).

Four players including Saaniya Sharma, Siddhi Kapoor and two amateurs Avani Prashanth and Nishna Patel are tied for eighth place.

The top 18 pros and five amateurs made the cut which fell at 165. Some well-known names missing out included Suchitra Ramesh, Gauri Karhade, Mehar Atwal and amateur Vidhatri Urs.

Also read:  Ridhima and Gaurika T-13 at Lavaux Ladies Open in France

News source: PTI

Puidox, Sept 17 (Golf news) Ridhima Dilawari staged a fine comeback from an early double bogey to shoot three-under 69 and get into top-15 at the Lavaux Ladies Open on the Ladies European Tour Access Series (LETAS).

Also joining her in T-13th place was Gaurika Bishnoi (72), who rallied from two bogeys in the first three holes.

Both Indians are now one-under 143 and five behind the leader.

The 16-year-old French amateur Emma Falcher fired the round of the day to rise to the top of the leaderboard on day two.

Among other Indians, Pranavi Urs (71-74) was T-21st and Amandeep Drall (73-73) was T-28th. Vani Kapoor (75-74) at T-44th also made the cut.

However, Durga Nittur (74-78) paid the price for a triple bogey on eighth and missed the cut.

Falcher started the day on two-under-par and began her round with three birdies and a bogey in her opening nine holes. Three further birdies on the back nine ensured a round of five-under 67.

Three players are tied for second place, two shots back on five-under-par including Finland’s Emilia Tukiainen, who is seventh in the LETAS Order of Merit.

Also read: Gaurika Bishnoi top Indian at Lavaux Ladies in Switzerland

News source: PTI 

West Linn, Sept 17 (Golf news) Returning to the United States after playing in Europe, Indian golfer Aditi Ashok endured a tough start as she carded a disappointing five-over 77 in the first round of the Cambia Portland Classic.

She will need a solid second round to make the cut.

Aditi had two double bogeys and two bogeys against just one birdie as she tried to adjust to the conditions on the other side of the Atlantic.

Three players led after the first round.

Fresh off playing for the victorious European team at the Solheim Cup two weeks ago, Spain’s Carlota Ciganda shot an opening-round 68 to join Pajaree Anannarukarn and Gemma Dryburgh for the lead at Oregon Golf Club.

Six players are tied for fourth at three-under, including Rolex Rankings No. 2 Jin Young Ko, who is playing for the first time since representing Korea at the Olympics in August.

Two-time Cambia Portland Classic winner Brooke Henderson is one of five players tied for 10th at two-under, a group that includes 57-year-old Laura Davies.

Also read: Sneha, Avani lead amateur clash against Jahanvi and rest in 9th leg of Hero WPGT

News source:PTI

Puidox (Switzerland), Sep 16 (Golf News) Golfer Gaurika Bishnoi was the best-placed Indian at tied 21st in the Lavaux Ladies Open on the LET Access Series here.

Gaurika shot 1-under 71 with two birdies against one bogey.

Among the other Indians, Amandeep Drall, who had a recent top-5 result, shot 1-over 73 and was tied 41st, while Ridhima Dilawari and Durga Nittur were 2-over 74 and tied 52nd.

Vani Kapoor (75) was tied 57th and Asmitha Sathish pulled out.

Anne-Sterre den Dunnen fired an opening round of 5-under 67 to take the lead on the first day. The Dutch amateur, playing her first LET Access Series event, won the Internazionali d'Italia Femminili U18 in late August.

Three players are tied for second place, one stroke back on four-under-par after Teresa Diez Moliner, Anais Maggetti and Kristyna Napoleaova all shot rounds of 68.

Spain's Moliner and Czechia's Napoleaova both carded five birdies and one bogey in their opening rounds, while Swiss golfer Maggetti made six birdies and two bogeys.

Two shots off the lead is a group of eight players, including the winner of the 2021 Allerum Open, Gabrielle Macdonald.

Also Read : Sneha, Avani lead amateur clash against Jahanvi and rest in 9th leg of Hero WPGT

News Source : PTI

Srinagar, Sept 15 (Golf News) Pune-based Udayan Mane, who represented India at the Tokyo Olympics, fired a sublime seven-under 65 in the opening round to take the early lead at the Rs. 40 lakh J&K Open here on Wednesday.

The Delhi duo of Rashid Khan and Honey Baisoya as well as Gurugram's Veer Ahlawat, the runner-up at the PGTI event last week, shot scores of five-under 67 to be tied second.

Om Prakash Chouhan of Mhow, Chandigarh's Akshay Sharma and Patna's Aman Raj returned cards of four-under 68 to be tied fifth.

Delhi-based Kshitij Naveed Kaul, who has his origins in J&K, carded a 70 to be tied 14th.

Indian golf legend Jyoti Randhawa posted an even-par 72 to occupy tied 25th place.

Pawan Parihar was the highest-placed among the players based in J&K. Parihar, who hails from the Jammu Tawi Golf Course, also produced a 72 to take a share of 25th place.

Udayan Mane got off to a dream start with eight birdies on the first 10 holes. He struck the ball with pin-point precision, landing it within six feet of the pin to set up birdies on the first, third, fourth, sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth.

On the 10th, the big-built Mane sank a 12-footer to move to eight-under for the day.

After a terrific start, Udayan then slowed down on the back-nine as the putts didn’t roll in for him. He dropped a bogey on the 15th but saved a good par from the bunker on the 16th.

"I just started off with a bang and was seven-under thru nine holes and eight-under thru 10. Coming in I didn’t really make enough putts to get the round going. I was looking at a 59 after the 10th but it didn’t go as per plan for me on the back-nine," Mane said.

Among the three players in tied second at 67, Veer Ahlawat and Honey Baisoya had error-free rounds while Rashid Khan made seven birdies and two bogeys.

Bengaluru's Chikkarangappa, the last winner at Royal Springs Golf Course, ended the day with a 73 to be tied 39th while PGTI Order of Merit leader Karandeep Kochhar of Chandigarh was a further two shots back in tied 63rd place

Also Read : Mane, Randhawa among top golfers at J&K Open 

News Source : PTI

Noida, Sept 15 (Golf News) On a day when none of the players broke par, Chandigarh's Lakhmehar Pardesi led by two shots after the first round in the ninth leg of the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour here on Wednesday.

The 21-year-old, who has never won on the Tour, held the lead outright for the first time. She led despite having no birdies and three bogeys.

Trimann Saluja, 19, who turned pro last year, was lying second after a round that resembled a roller-coaster. She had three birdies, four bogeys and two double bogeys for a five-over 77 at the NOIDA Golf Course.

Fancied names like Jahanvi Bakshi, amateurs Avani Prashanth and Sneha Singh were all left struggling. Besides Jahanvi and Avani, two others Siddhi Kapoor and Ananya Datar, shot 78 for a tied third place, while Hitaashee Bakshi and Anousha Tripathi carded 79 each.

Six players were tied for 10th at eight-over 80, while last week’s winner, Sneha Singh shot nine-over 81.

The course played rather difficult and scoring was not easy. Birdies were few and many players did not have a single one. 

Also read : Sneha, Avani lead amateur clash against Jahanvi and rest in 9th leg of Hero WPGT

News Source : PTI

Noida, Sept 14 (Golf news) Amateur Sneha Singh and Jahanvi Bakshi, the last two winners on the Hero Women's Pro Golf Tour, will battle it out when they compete in the ninth leg of the Tour starting here on Wednesday.

Last week, in the eighth leg, Sneha emerged winner as amateurs held sway though Jahanvi was among those tied for fourth. Jahanvi had won the seventh leg.

The Tour resumed a fortnight ago and in the last two starts, the amateurs have shown that they are working towards joining the pro ranks as they matched them shot for shot.

When Jahanvi won the seventh leg, amateur Avani Prashanth was second and last week Avani was fourth again.

Another amateur who has caught the eye is Vidhatri Urs who was Tied-seventh last week.

Siddhi Kapoor was the top pro in the eighth leg even though she was third overall last week. This week she will attempt to take the win all by herself.

The Women’s Golf Association of India has been consistent in having six amateurs each week in order to give them more matchplay and also groom them for the future as they get into the professional circuit.

Jahanvi will tee off in the opening three ball alongside amateur Smriti Bhargava and seasoned Neha Tripathi, while Sneha plays with Oviya Reddi and Ishvari Prasanna.

Jahanvi’s sister Hitaashee Bakshi is in the three ball with Saaniya Sharma and Khushi Khanijau.

Also read: Bogey-free 66 in round 2 helps Tvesa Malik make cut easily in Switzerland

News source: PTI

Srinagar, Sep 14 (Golf news) Olympic-returned Udayan Mane and former Asian Tour winners Jyoti Randhawa and Rashid Khan will headline a stellar field when professional golf returns to the valley with the J & K Open here from Wednesday.

The Rs 40 lakh event, organised by the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI), along with J&K Tourism, will be held at the picturesque Royal Springs Golf Course (RSGC).

The Pro-Am event will be held on September 19.

The tournament will witness participation from 125 golfers -- 119 professionals and six amateurs.

The top Indian professionals in the fray include Mane, who had played at the Tokyo Olympics, eight-time Asian Tour winner Randhawa, two-time Asian tour winner Rashid, PGTI Order of Merit leader Karandeep Kochhar and 2018 Panasonic Open winner Khalin Joshi.

Among others, Viraj Madappa and Chikkarangappa S (former winner at Royal Springs Golf Course) as well as other leading Indian players such as Aman Raj, Kshitij Naveed Kaul and Manu Gandas will be in fray.

The foreign challenge will be led by the Bangladeshi duo of Md Zamal Hossain Mollah and Badal Hossain.

The local challenge will be led by Bhawani Singh Parmar, Pawan Parihar, Fayaz Ahmed Langoo and Raghav Wahi as well as amateurs such as Sanjeev Dugra, Shabir Ahmad Bhat, Zubair Hasan Zargar, Arsalan Rah, Adnan Rah and Umar Yaqoob Mir.

Uttam Singh Mundy, CEO, PGTI, said, "The staging of the J&K Open 2021 is another positive trend for the PGTI since the resumption of the tour in the first week of September.

"The tournament is in line with our long-term objective of promoting professional golf in different parts of the country in order to grow the sport further.

"We appreciate the support of J&K Tourism, J&K Golf Development & Management Authority and the Royal Springs Golf Course in helping us stage this event."

Also read:  In-form Shubhankar fires 66 to grab top-10 finish at high-profile BMW PGA

News source: PTI 

Wentworth (UK), Sep 13 (Golf news): Indian golfer Shubhankar Sharma fired a six-under 66, his best of the week, to finish Tied-ninth at the 2021 BMW PGA Championship, here.

After finishing the third round with four birdies in a row, Sharma had seven birdies against a sole bogey on Par-4 11th. He birdied the fourth, sixth, 10th, 12th , 13th, 16th and 18th.

Sharma rose 26th places on the Race to Dubai rankings to 78th and is closer to his first goal of Top-60.

In his five starts, Sharma has had two Top-10s (T-9 and Cazoo and BMW PGA), two other Top-20s (T-16 at Hero Open and T-12 at Italian) and has had just three over par rounds in 20.

American Billy Horschel made a stunning closing birdie to fulfil one of his great golfing ambitions and won his first Rolex Series title at the 2021 BMW PGA Championship.

The American watched the event on television as a child and fell in love with Wentworth Golf Club when he finished in the top five on his debut two years ago.

The 34-year-old said he would rank a win at the prestigious event alongside a victory at The PLAYERS Championship, and he carded a closing 65 to finish at 19 under and beat Thailand's Kiradech Aphibarnrat, home favourite Laurie Canter and Welshman Jamie Donaldson by one shot.

Kiradech, who dropped a late bogey on Par-5 17th and failed to birdie the Par-5 18th, finished in a tie for second with Donaldson (66) and Canter (67). All three ended at 18-under) Horschel already has a World Golf Championships title under his belt this season and this victory moves him up to second on the Race to Dubai Rankings in Partnership with Rolex.

He became the first American to win a Rolex Series event and just the second to win the BMW PGA Championship after the great Arnold Palmer in 1975.

South African Christiaan Bezuidenhout finished at 17 under, a shot clear of England's Andrew Johnston and Justin Rose and Italian Francesco Laporta.

In the race for an automatic place in Padraig Harrington's Ryder Cup team, a closing 72 was enough to see Bernd Wiesberger edge out Shane Lowry and join Jon Rahm, Tommy Fleetwood, Tyrrell Hatton, Rory McIlroy, Viktor Hovland, Paul Casey, Matt Fitzpatrick and Lee Westwood as the qualifiers.

Also read: Sharma closes with four birdies in a row, rises to 12th at Wentworth

News source: PTI 

Wentworth (UK), Sep 12 (Golf news): India's Shubhankar Sharma closed with four successive birdies for a round of 4-under 68 that saw him rise to T-12 and set him for a fine finish at the BMW PGA Championship.

Sharma had one birdie and one bogey in his first 14 holes and then picked four birdies on the last four. A day earlier, he had four birdies against one bogey for a 69.

Sharma has had a good run past few weeks. He was T-12 last week at the Italian Open and two starts prior to that he was T-9 at Cazoo Classic and T-16 at Hero Open.

In between at the European Masters he was well placed after three rounds before running into trouble on the last day.

At T-12 in Wentworth, after three rounds he is set for another good finish that should carry him closer to the first goal of getting to Top-60 for the Race to Dubai World Tour Championships at the end of the season.

Francesco Laporta is in pole position to make his maiden European Tour win. However, the Italian has a bunched leaderboard lining up behind him heading into the final day and several of them are vying for a place in the European Ryder Cup team.

The 30-year-old carded a three under 69, which included an eagle at the par five fourth, to move to a 14 under total and edge one ahead of Englishman Laurie Canter, who signed for a two under 70.

Amongst those a shot further back on 12 under were former FedEx Cup winner Billy Horschel and 2013 Masters Champion Adam Scott, while 2019 Open Champion Shane Lowry and two-time Rolex Series winner Bernd Wiesberger were both on 11 under par heading into the final day.

Lowry and Wiesberger are both one low round away from sealing automatic qualification to the Ryder Cup, while Justin Rose would need to come from five strokes back to get the win he requires to move into the automatic qualification spots -- the former U.S. Open winner sits on nine under par.

Lee Westwood is also in danger of slipping out of the automatic qualification places for Whistling Straits in two weeks’ time.

Also read: Shubhankar Sharma’s steady 69 sees him rise to 25th, makes cut easily

News source: PTI 

Wentworth (UK), Sep 11 (Golf news) Indian golfer Shubhankar Sharma played a steady round of 3-under 69 to ensure weekend action at the BMW PGA Championship here.

Sharma, who shot 70 in the first round, is now 5-under 139 and Tied-25th, a rise of 26 places from his opening round Tied-51.

Sharma, fighting to get into top-60 and qualify for the season-ending Race to Dubai World Tour Championships later in the year, is currently 104th. A good result should take him into top-90 and give him a chance to improve in further events.

Sharma had birdies on first, fourth, 12th and 13th while he bogeyed seventh for the second day running.

Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat, who recently regained his PGA Tour card, moved into the outright lead.

Also read: Golfer Sneha Singh leads amateur domination in 8th leg of Hero WPGT

The three-time European Tour winner from Thailand had shared the first round lead after an opening 64 and followed that up with a solid 68 to move to a 12 under total, one stroke clear of Englishman Laurie Canter, who carded a 66, and Francesco Laporta, who came in with a 65 in the final group of the day.

Adam Scott of Australia was in fourth place at ten under after a 69, while Justin Rose was one of three players in a share of fifth place at nine under. The Englishman is chasing a victory which would guarantee his place in Pádraig Harrington's European team for the Ryder Cup in two weeks' time.

Shane Lowry and Bernd Wiesberger both improved on their opening round performances with impressive second rounds as they each target a Ryder Cup debut at Whistling Straits.

Irishman Lowry, who requires a strong result to secure his Ryder Cup place, carded a six under 66 on Wentworth Club's famous West Course to move to 8-under, while Wiesberger signed for a 5-under 67 for a six under total.

News source: PTI

Holzhausern, Sept 10 (Golf news) India's Tvesa Malik fired a superb bogey-free six-under 66 which more than made up for her listless opening round of 73 in the VP Bank Swiss Ladies Open here.

At 5-under 137, she was 17th when she finished the second round but there were a lot of players yet to finish.

German Sandra Gal added a brilliant bogey free nine-under 63 after her first round 67 to zoom to 14-under and a three-shot lead.

She was followed by local Swiss star, Kim Metraux, who had a 66 in the first round and was five-under through nine holes in the second for a total of 11-under with nine holes to go.

Also read: Golfer Sneha Singh leads amateur domination in 8th leg of Hero WPGT

Of India's other players, Aditi Ashok, who started the week with 2-under 70 was 1-under through eight holes in the second.

Gaurika Bishnoi, after 73 in first round, was 1-under through 15 holes in the second and looked set to make the cut.

Vani Kapoor (73 in first round) was 1-over in second through 12 and Amandeep Drall (72 in first round) was 2-over through 12 in the second.

Ridhima Dilawari, after 75 in first round, was even par in second after nine holes. Astha Madan, 81 in first round, was two-over through three in second.

In the first round, Aditi Ashok was the best Indian with a card of 2-under 70 and was T-28.

Amandeep Drall, who had a Tied-4th place last week on LET Access Series turned in a birdie-birdie finish to score even par 72 and was T-56, while the other Indian girls were way behind.

Chloe Williams and Marianne Skarpnord opened the week with eight-under-par cards.

News source: PTI

Gurugram, Sept 10 (Golf news) Amateur Sneha Singh produced an error-free three-under 69, the best round of the week, to cruise to a massive five-shot win in the 8th leg of the Hero Women's Pro Golf Tour at the Golden Greens Golf Club here on Friday.

Sneha, a past winner on the Hero WPGT, registered her third win on the Pro Tour, while being an amateur.

With a final round of 69 that had birdies on second, seventh and 18th, she totalled three-under 213 and was five clear of another amateur Khushi Hooda (72), who was two-over 218 for the 54 holes.

Sneha, 17, a student of DPS Khajaguda in Hyderabad, is coached by her father Sanjay.

Playing golf since the age of six, Sneha has now won on the Hero WPG Tour once each in 2019 (in Hyderabad), 2020 (in NOIDA) and in 2021 in Gurugram.

Siddhi Kapoor emerged as the top pro in third place overall with a card of two-over 74 and a total of three-over 219.

Amateur Avani Prashanth, one of the players tied for second overnight, never recovered from a nightmarish start of a double bogey and two other bogeys in the first five holes for a score of three-over 75.

Also read: Aditi best Indian at T-28th in Swiss Ladies Open

She was Tied-fourth with Jahanvi Bakshi (75) at four-over 220.

Hitaashee Bakshi (73) was sixth, while yet another amateur Vidhatri Urs (77) and Shweta Mansingh (71) were tied for seventh.

That meant there were three amateurs in the top five and four in the top eight, indicating that there is a lot of amateur talent waiting to join the pro ranks.

Sneha Singh, who won her first title on the Hero WPGT alongside pros in 2019, never looked in trouble after having started the final round as the sole leader with a one-shot advantage over Siddhi, Jahanvi and Avani.

Even as others dropped shots, the Hyderabad-based Sneha picked up three birdies without dropping any shots for a comfortable win.

Khushi, also an amateur, started with a birdie but dropped shots on eighth and 10th before picking a final birdie on 18th.

For Siddhi, the middle of the round was forgettable as she dropped a shot each on every hole from eighth to 11th and ended the day at 74 despite three birdies.

Avani started with a double and bogeys on second, fifth and 10th and never recovered for a card of 75.

Four players Lakhmehar Pardesi, Khushi Khanijau, Saaniya Sharma and Afshan Fatima were tied for ninth place.

News source: PTI

Holzhausern (Switzerland), Sep 10 (Golf news): Aditi Ashok was the best Indian with a card of 2-under 70 for T-28th spot after the opening round of the VP Bank Swiss Ladies Open on the Ladies European Tour here.

Amandeep Drall, who had a Tied-4th place last week on LET Access Series, turned in a birdie-birdie finish to score even par 72 and was T-56, while the other Indians will need good second rounds to make the cut.

Tvesa Malik, Gaurika Bishnoi and Vani Kapoor shot 1-over 73 each and were T-68th, while Ridhima Dilawari (75) was T-92. Astha Madan (81) was T-122 and certain to miss the cut.

There was a two-way tie at the top of the leaderboard as Chloe Williams and Marianne Skarpnord both finished day one on eight-under-par.

Aditi was one-under for the front nine with a birdie on Par-5 third and then she dropped her only shot of the day on 10th before picking a birdie on par-4 12th.

Williams, who went out in the second group this morning, set the clubhouse lead after shooting a bogey-free round of 64 which included eight birdies.

The Welshwoman has had two top-ten finishes this season and led after the first round of the Creekhouse Ladies Open last week.

Skarpnord produced an excellent round of 64 herself to be in a share of the lead with the highlight of her day being her hole-in-one at the par-3 15th – her second of the 2021 season.

The five-time LET winner made four birdies on the front nine to make the turn in 31 and looked set to be the new leader, but a bogey on 18 ensured she joined Williams on eight-under.

Four players are tied for third place on seven-under-par, including Swiss amateur Elena Moosmann, who is 13th in the LET Access Series Order of Merit.

Also read: Amateur Sneha leads 8th leg of Hero WPG Tour as Avani drops late shots

News source: PTI 

Wentworth (UK), Sep 10 (Golf news): It was a tale of two nines for Shubhankar Sharma as he shot 2-under 70 to lie at T-22 in the opening round of the BMW PGA Championship here.

Sharma was 2-over for the front nine with bogeys on third and seventh and then changed his fortunes with birdies on 14th and 15th and an eagle on Par-5 17th to be placed T-22.

Play was suspended overnight due to darkness, with four groups remaining to complete in round one in the championship which is the third Rolex Series event of the 2021 Race to Dubai.

Kiradech Aphibarnrat carded seven birdies in a stunning back nine at Wentworth Club to take as share of the first round lead.

The 32-year-old from Thailand has struggled to find the kind of form which has earned him four European Tour titles, but he reignited the flame on the West Course's famous back nine.

Five birdies in succession were followed by back-to-back birdies at the 16th and 17th, earning him an eight under 64 and a one-stroke advantage.

He was joined at the top by South Africa's Christiaan Bezuidenhout, the three-time European Tour winner carding an eagle at the par five fourth hole and picking up birdies on the final three holes to sign for his 64.

Also read: Shubhankar makes a final day charge, finish T12 in Rome

News source: PTI

Gurugram, Sept 9 (Golf news) Amateur prodigy Avani Prashanth faltered over the last two holes to slip from the leading position as Sneha Singh grabbed the top spot after the second round of the 8th leg of the Hero Women's Pro Golf Tour here on Thursday.

Avani gave away as many as three shots in the final two holes as another amateur Sneha, also a previous winner on the Hero WPGT, went into the lead.

Sneha finished a group earlier with a day's card of one-under 71 and totalled even par 144 for sole lead.

There was a three-way tie for second place, with Avani (71-74), Siddhi Kapoor (74-71) and Jahanvi Bakshi (73-72). They were all one-over 145.

The fifth and sixth places were held by amateurs Khushi Hooda (75-71) and Vidhatri Urs (73-74). Vidhatri also had an eagle on par-5 fifth.

With six players in contention, including four amateurs, there is bound to be a close battle as only three shots separate these players.

Siddhi Kapoor had three birdies against two bogeys on the second day. Jahanvi was once again steady and a picture of calm with a 72 that had one birdie and one bogey.

Also read: Amateurs in spotlight as Avani leads in first round of 8th leg of Hero WPGT

Avani, winner of the third leg this year and still short of her 15th birthday, played superbly till the last two holes. Avani, who started from one-under, was going great guns on the front nine. She opened with birdie on first from almost 15 feet and on the third she hit a great approach to five feet.

On the eighth, a 6-iron got her to six feet for a birdie. She was 2-under for the first nine. A bogey on 10th was followed by six pars.

On the 17th hole, playing for a left to right wind, she suddenly had the wind stopping as soon as she hit the ball, which went straight into the rough. She came out with a bogey.

On the 18th, she had an unfortunate break where on her second shot she hit the ball into the right rough and then had to take a penalty drop.

She dropped two shots there. That was especially disappointing considering she had a birdie on 17th and a par on 18th a day earlier.

Hitaashee Bakshi (76-73) was seventh, while Saaniya Sharma (72-78) was eighth. Lakhmehar Pardesi (74-77) and Afshan Fatima (73-78) were tied for ninth. 

News source: PTI

Gurugram, (Golf news): Amateurs Avani Prashanth, Vidhatri Urs and Sneha Singh grabbed the spotlight as they occupied three of the top six places at the end of first round of the eighth leg of Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour here on Wednesday.

While Avani won the third leg of the ongoing season in Mumbai, Sneha had won the 11th leg in 2019 in Hyderabad.

In the opening round of the eighth leg at the Golden Greens Golf Club, Avani shot 1-under 71 to take a one-shot lead over Saaniya Sharma (72).

Four players, including amateurs Vidhatri and Sneha, besides last week’s winner Jahanvi Bakshi and Afshan Fatima were Tied-3rd with rounds of 73 each.

Three players -- Seher Atwal, Lakhmehar Pardesi and Siddhi Kapoor -- shot 74 each while three others, including amateurs Khushi Hooda and Nishna and pro Rhea Saravanan, carded 75 each.

Avani, with back-to-back birdies on Par-3 fourth and Par-5 fifth, went 2-under and was placed as such till she came to the 14th.

She hit a roadblock and double bogeyed the hole. Despite that, she fought back with birdies on 15th and 17th with a bogey in between on 16th to be the only player to finish under par.

Saaniya Sharma had three birdies and three bogeys for her 72 and was lying second.

Amateur Vidhatri had a steady front nine with one birdie and no bogeys and turned in 1-under. On the back nine, she had two birdies, three pars and four bogeys to finish the day on 73.

Another amateur, Sneha Singh landed the only eagle of the day when she holed her third shot on Par-5 fifth. She had two more birdies on back nine. She also had three bogeys and a double bogey on Par-4 14th for her 73.

Jahanvi Bakshi, playing three groups behind Avani, had two birdies and a bogey in the first 16 holes. She seemed to be in a position to get a share of the lead with Avani who had finished earlier.

However, Jahanvi double bogeyed late in the day on Par-4 17th and carded 73.

Also read: India's Jeev Milkha Singh becomes first golfer in world to be granted 10-year Dubai Golden Visa

News source: PTI 

Dubai, Sep 8 (Golf news) Star Indian golfer Jeev Milkha Singh has become the first professional golfer in the world to receive the prestigious 10-year Dubai Golden Visa in recognition of his outstanding achievements in the sport.

The 49-year-old Jeev has had a long association with Dubai, having featured in several tournaments and making many friends in the city.

"I am really honoured and humbled that the Dubai government has considered me for the Golden Visa and I am looking forward to making many more special memories here," Jeev said in a release.

During the 2001 Dubai Desert Classic, Jeev had established a world record at that time when he completed the four rounds with just 94 putts while finishing tied sixth.

Jeev, winner of four titles on the European Tour, four on Japan Golf Tour and six on the Asian Tour, has received the 10-year 'Gold card' for being an elite professional athlete.

Also read: Jahanvi aims to continue good form at the 8th leg on the Hero WPGT

"This is a huge honour. I think I came to Dubai for the first time in 1993, and I have loved every moment of my stay here and greatly admired the energy of this fascinating city," he said.

"My family has enjoyed the many offerings of Dubai, like the variety of restaurants and shopping, but being a professional golfer, the biggest attraction for me is the quality of golf courses and the practice facilities that you get here, which really are second to none.

"I have also got a lot of support from Dubai. I was one of the first ambassadors for Jumeirah Golf Estates, and also of 'Golf in Dubai' for many years." The Golden Visa was instituted by the UAE government in 2019 as a new system which allowed investors (minimum of AED 10 million) and entrepreneurs, as well as professionals and specialised talents like in the field of science, knowledge and sports, to apply for it.

Other sportspersons who have been granted the Golden Visa by Dubai include footballers Cristiano Ronaldo, Paul Pogba, Roberto Carlos, Luis Figo and Romel Lukaku, tennis superstar Novak Djokovic, Indian tennis star Sania Mirza and her husband and Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik.

Bollywood stars Shah Rukh Khan and Sanjay Dutt have also received their visas.

Son of the legendary Indian athlete, the late 'Flying Sikh' Milkha Singh, Jeev won two of the biggest tournaments on the European Tour -- the 2006 Volvo Masters at Valderrama and the 2012 Scottish Open.

He also won the 2008 Singapore Open and rose to No. 28 in the Official World Golf Ranking, a high that few Asian golfers have managed to surpass. 

News source: PTI

Holzhausern (Switzerland), Sep 8 (Golf news) Aditi Ashok and Tvesa Malik will lead one of the country's largest contingents in a Ladies European Tour event outside India as they tee up at this week’s VP Bank Swiss Ladies Open.

Even as Aditi wraps up her European starts before moving to LPGA next week, Tvesa will be seeking to get back to form that brought her four top-10 finishes, including a career-best second place, between May and July.

The other Indians in the field are Amandeep Drall, who was tied-fourth on the LET Access series last week, Vani Kapoor, Astha Madan, Gaurika Bishnoi and Ridhima Dilawari. The last two will be making their first starts on the LET in almost two years.

Aditi, fourth in Tokyo Olympics, leads a host of Olympians in the field this week. In recent weeks, Aditi has been consistent with T-10 at Skafto Open and T-12 at Creekhouse Ladies Open.

It will be the second time that the event has been staged at this venue, Golfpark Holzhausern, with Amy Boulden taking the title last year as the Tour returned to the country after eight years away.

There are a number of players who have the experience and know-how to emerge victorious this week in Switzerland, with 10 players in the field having lifted an LET trophy in the past few seasons.

Besides Boulden, who will be looking to defend her title this time around, there is also Big Green Egg Open champion Steph Kyriacou and Tipsport Czech Ladies Open winner Atthaya Thitikul.

Also read: Jahanvi aims to continue good form at the 8th leg on the Hero WPGT

Aramco Team Series – London victor Marianne Skarpnord will also be on course this week, as well as Jabra Ladies Open superstar Pia Babnik, who is playing her first tournament on tour since the AIG Women’s Open.

Christine Wolf and Becky Morgan will be looking to repeat victories in Hero Indian Open in 2019 and 2018 respectively, while successful Swedes Jenny Haglund and Caroline Hedwall will also be in contention. 

News source: PTI

Gurugram, Sep 7 (Golf news) Promising Indian golfer Jahanvi Bakshi will look to continue her fine form when she tees up at the eighth leg of the Hero Women's Pro Golf Tour at the Golden Green Golf Club on Wednesday.

The teen star has won twice in her last three starts and finished runner-up once though she is yet to compete on international tours.

She seems to be happy gaining experience at home before venturing out like many before her.

Jahanvi, 19, and her younger sibling, Hitaashee, have both already won on the Hero WPGT and have consistently been finishing in the leading positions.

Another pair of sisters in the field, more familiar for a long period, the Atwal sisters will also be in action again.

Seher, who won her maiden title as a pro in the fourth leg this season, started well last week as she led after the first round. However, she was unable to maintain the tempo and ended fourth.

She will be looking to improve on that to pick up valuable points, money and experience.

With many of the leading women golfers away in Europe for the Ladies European Tour and Ladies European Tour Access Series, the ongoing events are a great chance for the younger lot.

Also read: Aditi finishes creditable T-12 at Creekhouse

Among the amateurs, Avani Prashanth and Sneha Singh have shown great promise and have regularly been challenging the pros. Both have also won pro titles while still being amateurs.

Two experienced stars in the field here who will be hoping to reverse their fortunes will be Neha Tripathi and Saaniya Sharma, who recently went to the US to play Stage 1 of the LPGA Qualifiers.

The field includes six amateurs. Apart from Avani Prashanth and Sneha Singh, the others are Rishika Muralidhar, Vidhatri Urs, Khushi Hooda and Nishna Patel. 

News source: PTI

Ahus (Sweden), Sep 6 (Golf news) Indian golfer Aditi Ashok endured a rollercoaster final round, carding an even par 72 to finish a creditable Tied-12th at the Creekhouse Ladies Open here.

Aditi, who finished fourth at the Tokyo Olympics, had a wild ride with five birdies, three bogeys and a double bogey for another even par 72 on Sunday evening.

With earlier rounds of 74-73-72, she totalled 3-over and was Tied for 12th place, close on the heels of her Tied-10th finish at Skafto Open last week.

Tvesa Malik had missed the cut earlier in the week.

Maja Stark held her nerve on the final day to claim a four-shot victory and secure her first LET title in just her third event. The 21-year-old, who only turned professional last month, continued to play some excellent shots throughout the day and carded a final round score of one under 71 to finish with an overall score of nine under.

Also read: PSA Challenger Tour to begin on Sept 4

It was a Swedish one-two at Kristianstad Golf Club, with Stark’s compatriot Linn Grant claiming a second successive second-placed finish after a final round score of one under 71 saw her finish on five under overall.

Race to Costa del Sol leader Atthaya Thitikul continued her impressive run of form this year to claim a tenth top-ten finish of the season.

Sitting a shot behind Thitikul were Carmen Alonso, Christine Wolf and Lydia Hall, who shared the fourth spot after registering a final score of two under from their four rounds. All three players claimed their highest finish of the season after a strong showing on Swedish soil. 

News source: PTI

Rome, Sept 6 (Golf news) India's Shubhankar Sharma reserved his best for the final round as he turned in a sizzling five-under 66 to sign off tied 12th at the DS Automobiles Italian Open.

Starting the final day with a bogey, Sharma was on fire from the fifth. He had seven birdies in the next holes from fifth to 13th and looked set for a Top-10.

But back-to-back bogeys on 14 and 15 set him back before he finished with a birdie on 18th for 66.

At 8-under, Sharma finished five shots off the winner, Nicolai Højgaard.

Nicolai Hojgaard held off a strong chasing pack to claim his maiden European Tour title with a one shot victory. His twin brother Rasmus finished 18th.

The Danish 20-year-olds became the first brothers to win back-to-back events on the European Tour after Rasmus Højgaard won last week's Omega European Masters in Switzerland.

Also read: Shubhankar Sharma set for star-studded Italian Open

Nicolai came into the final round with a one shot lead and had found himself two clear on the back nine before back-to-back bogeys at the 14th and 15th wiped out his advantage and left him level with Tommy Fleetwood and Adrian Meronk going down the last.

He arrived at the 18th tee knowing he needed a closing birdie to win, and he did just that -- holing from three feet to finish the tournament on 13 under par and clinch his maiden victory at this level, with Rasmus joining him on the green to celebrate.

Meronk and Fleetwood finished in a share of second place on 12 under just one shot behind Højgaard after posting rounds of 66 and 71 respectively.

News source: PTI

New Delhi, Sep 2 (Golf news) Forty six players from across the country will be vying for the top honours when the seventh edition of the Professional Squash Association Challenger Tour gets underway in Greater Noida on September 4.

A prize money of USD 12000 for women and USD 6000 for men will be at stake during the PSA tournament, which is part of the HCL Squash Podium Program.

The 'HCL-SRFI Indian Tour - Delhi NCR 2021' is the first event to be held after the COVID-19 forced break and will be held in a bio-secure environment at Shiv Nadar University.

Besides world No.77 Sunayna Kuruvilla and world No.86 Tanvi Khanna, Abhishek Agarwal, ranked 164th, will also be participating at the PSA Tour.

"The PSA tour is one of the strategic programs that is being conceptualized and run jointly to help Indian players improve their game and international ranking," Cyrus Poncha, Secretary-General, Squash Rackets Federation of India said in a release.

Also read: Aditi, Tvesa to lead Indian contingent in Creekhouse Open

"The program has already improved the ranking of many players since its inception. For instance, Tanvi Khanna who was World Rank 98 and Velavan Senthilkumar who was World Rank 185 won the HCL-SRFI Indian Tour in Chennai held in August and are now ranked at 86 and 111 respectively.

"I am hopeful that HCL and SRFI together will continue to help promising players emerge as the next stars of Indian Squash." The HCL Squash Podium Program was launched in 2019 and the first PSA tournament under this program was also held in Delhi NCR in August 2019. Since then, PSA Tours have been hosted across Chennai, Mumbai and Jaipur. 

News source: PTI

Rome (Italy), Sep 1 (Golf news) Indian golfer Shubhankar Sharma will try to put behind the disastrous final round last week when he tees up at the Italian Open at the Marco Simone Golf and Country Club, here on Thursday.

The course, located on the outskirts of Rome, last hosted the Italian Open in 1994, and has undergone some major changes in recent years as it prepares to host the 2023 Ryder Cup.

Sharma has had a modest season though he seemed to be getting back to form with T-16 at Hero Open and then T-9 at Cazoo Classic. He plays with Oliver Fisher and George Coetzee in the first two rounds.

Also read: Gaurika Bishnoi leads field as Hero WPGT resumes with 7th leg at DLF

Ross McGowan will be returning to the Italian Open, looking to win consecutive titles.

The 2018 Open Champion Francesco Molinari will also play alongside Ryder Cup partner Tommy Fleetwood this week. Molarini famously won five points from five matches at Le Golf National.

Bernd Wiesberger, winner of the Italian Open in 2019, will hope to build on his runner-up result at last week’s Omega European Masters as he looks to force his way into the Ryder Cup side. 

News source: PTI

Ahus (Sweden), Sep 1 (Golf news) Golfers Aditi Ashok, who earned a top-10 finish last week, and Tvesa Malik, who returns to action after a much-needed break, will lead the Indian challenge at the Creekhouse Ladies Open, here from Thursday.

There are two more Indians in the fray, Ridhima Dilawari and Astha Madan.

Dilawari will make an appearance on the LET after a long gap as she last played on the Tour at the start of 2020 in Australia.

Aditi has been in action in Europe since her magnificent showing at the Tokyo Olympics where she missed a historic medal by a whisker.

A lot of travelling and change in conditions saw two modest weeks followed by a Top-10 in Sweden at Skafto Open.

Malik, who was edged out in the race for the second Indian women's berth to the Olympics, has been having a decent season with a bunch of Top-10s.

"I needed some rest and I am feeling fresh and raring to go, said Malik, who is still looking for her maiden LET win, though she was second at Gant Ladies Open.

Dilawari, who earned a card to the China LPGA was never able to get there because of the pandemic and has now decided to travel to Europe and play some events.

This will be the first taste of a professional event on European soil for Dilawari, who represented India at the 2018 Asian Games before turning professional.

Malik will be the first out in action on Thursday when she plays with Welsh Chloe Williams and Frenchwoman Emma Grechi from the 10th tee at 9.06 am, while the others play in the afternoon.

Also read: Gaurika Bishnoi leads field as Hero WPGT resumes with 7th leg at DLF

Aditi is paired with Caroline Hedwall, who curiously like the Indian had won the Hero Women’s Indian Open, and the third player in the group of Australian Whitney Hiller.

Dilawari plays with Josefine Nyqvist of Sweden and Rachel Drummond of England, and Astha Madan plays alongside Mimmi Bergman and Linetter Littau Durr Holmskykke.

The Creekhouse Ladies Open is the second successive tournament held in Sweden. The contenders include Atthaya Thitikul, Steph Kyriacou and Sanna Nuutinen all in the hunt for the top prize with nine tournaments remaining in the season. 

News source: PTI 

Gurugram, Aug 31 (Golf news) Gaurika Bishnoi, who will soon travel to Europe to play events on the Ladies European Tour, will look to get some valuable tournament practice as she tees up at the seventh leg of the Hero Women's Pro Golf Tour here on Wednesday.

The Gurugram-based Gaurika, who turned 23 earlier in August, was not at her best when the first segment of the Tour was held between January to March this year before the pandemic forced a halt.

However, Gaurika has good memories of the DLF Golf and Country Club, where she has had two wins, one each in 2018 and 2019. Her last win on the Hero WPGT came in 2019 in the seventh leg at Clover Greens in Hosur, Tamil Nadu.

Gaurika will have to contend with the Bakshi sisters, Jahanvi and Hitaashee, who have shown a lot of promise in the last couple of seasons, as also experienced Neha Tripathi and Seher Atwal, one of two Atwal sisters in the field.

Also read: Disastrous start in final round sees Shubhankar finish to T-50 in Switzerland

Both Jahanvi and Hitaashee have wins to their name and have expressed an ambition to get to the Ladies European Tour in the future.

Of the amateurs, Avani Prashanth has showed a lot of promise for the future and could be the one to watch out for. Even while being an amateur, she has a win on the pro circuit to her name.

The Hero Order of Merit has been combined for the 2021 season alongwith the truncated 2020 season.

Amandeep Drall leads the Merit list, but will be missing this week as she is playing in Europe. Vani Kapoor and Ridhima Dilawari, who are also competing in Europe, will not be playing this event. 

News source: PTI

Hyderabad, Aug 31 (Golf news): Top golfers, including defending champion and Tokyo-returned Udayan Mane and former Asian tour winners Rashid Khan and Khalin Joshi, will vie for honours when the Golconda Masters Telangana Open tees off here on Thursday.

The tournament, which will kick-start the domestic season after a five-month gap forced by the COVID-19 pandemic, will witness participation from 129 golfers -- 123 professionals and six amateurs.

Mane (2018 & 2020 winner), who had competed at the Tokyo Olympics earlier this month, will headline the field which also includes PGTI Order of Merit leader Karandeep Kochhar, Viraj Madappa and Aman Raj as well as other leading players such as former champions Chikkarangappa S (2019 winner) and Harendra Gupta (2015 winner).

The foreign challenge will be led by the Bangladeshi duo of Md Zamal Hossain Mollah and Badal Hossain.

The local challenge will be led by Haider Hussain, Mohd Azhar, Venkkat Gautham, Rupinder Singh Gill and Sanjay Kumar Singh as well as amateurs such as Hardik S Chawda, Tarun Ajay, Tej Gangavarapu, Sankeerth Nidadavolu and Milind Soni.

Uttam Singh Mundy, CEO, PGTI, said, "We're excited about resuming the 2020-21 TATA Steel PGTI season with the Golconda Masters Telangana Open 2021 Presented by Vooty & Haldi.

"We are extremely thankful to Hyderabad Golf Association, Vooty Golf County, Haldi Golf County, Telangana Tourism, Incredible India, Skoda and Apollo Hospitals, for their kind cooperation and support towards our cause.

"The Golconda Masters Telangana Open has emerged as one of the most prestigious tournaments on the PGTI over the last seven years and we're confident the event will continue to be a catalyst in helping grow the popularity of the sport in Telangana and will boost golf tourism in the state." The tournament will be held at the Hyderabad Golf Club.

Also read:Disastrous start in final round sees Shubhankar finish to T-50 in Switzerland

News Source: PTI 

Crans Montana (Switzerland), Aug 30 (Golf news) Shubhankar Sharma's hopes of a good top-10 finish were dashed early in the final round as the Indian golfer carded a 6-over 76 at the European Masters here.

The 25-year-old dropped six shots in a three-hole stretch with a double bogey- triple bogey–bogey from second to fourth.

He never recovered from it and slipped from T-7 to a disappointing T-50 at the finish with a total of 1-under 279.

Rasmus Hojgaard became a three time European Tour winner at the age of 20 after producing a closing bogey free 63 to come through the field and claim a one shot victory.

Also read: Aditi finishes T-10 in Sweden, Vani placed T-38th

The 18th hole at Crans-sur-Sierre Golf Club proved crucial on Sunday, with Hojgaard holing his nine foot birdie putt there to get to 13 under par.

He walked off the course trailing Bernd Wiesberger by one shot, but that all changed as the Austrian found the water at the last to surrender a double bogey and slip to 12 under.

Hojgaard's nervous wait continued as the final three groups finished off their rounds, but with none of the remaining players able to match his 72 hole total, he was crowned King of the Mountains, becoming the third youngest player to get to three wins on the European Tour, following Matteo Manassero and Seve Ballesteros – a three-time winner of the event.

Wiesberger finished alone in second, one shot behind Hojgaard, with Henrik Stenson another shot behind on 11 under after par.

The English pair of Matthew Jordan and Ross McGowan joined American Sean Crocker in a tie for fourth at ten under par.

News source: PTI