Ahmedabad, Jan 17: Veteran Arjun Singh turned the clock back with the day’s best score of two-under-70 in the fourth round of the Final Qualifying Stage to emerge the winner. This win at the PGTI’s Qualifying School for the 2020 season at the Kensville Golf & Country Club gave Arjun a chance to get back to playing a fuller season inn 2020.
Other notable seasoned players getting their cards included Manav Jaini, Gurbaaz Mann, Vijay Kumar, Gaurav Ghei, KPS Sekhon and Amritinder Singh.
Two amateurs, who represented India at the Asia-Pacific Amateurs in 2019, Kartik Sharma (T-5th; 70-76-74-74) and Vinay Kumar Yadav (T-16th; 78-73-71-75) also earned full playing rights.
The 50-year-old Arjun shot rounds of 75-72-73-70 for two-over 290.
Gurugram’s Deepinder Singh Kullar (71-73-74-73) took second place at three-over-291 after returning a final round of one-over-73.
Allahabad’s Samarth Dwivedi (70) and Delhi’s Manav Jaini (72) took a share of third place at four-over-292.
Gurugram’s Kartik Sharma finished as the best amateur. He was tied fifth at six-over-294.
A winner of 14 titles on the Indian professional circuit, Arjun said, “I had taken a break from golf last year so I played just six events on the PGTI in 2019. When I began the Final Stage, the idea was to shoot four decent rounds in order to get my card back. I didn’t really expect to win as the field here had a lot of good young players.
“Winning the Qualifying School seems to have injected a fresh lease of life in my game. I now feel rejuvenated and full of confidence ahead of the new season.
“I putted well today and made some good par-saves on the front-nine. It wasn’t easy negotiating the tough course and the windy conditions this week. You have to think your way around this course. I’m happy that I executed my plans well through the week,” added Arjun, who also got a cheque of Rs. 75,000 for the win.
Kullar, the round three leader by two shots, struck four birdies, three bogeys and a double-bogey during his 73 on Friday. Kullar missed a six-foot par putt on the last hole that could’ve taken the match into a playoff.
The top 39 players earned their cards for the 2020 TATA Steel PGTI season as four players were tied for 36th at 16-over-304 at the end of round four.
The top 39 included three amateurs. There were also four foreigners, all Bangladeshis, among the 39 players who earned their full cards. The cut in the final round went at 16-over-304.
The seasoned Arjun Singh, who was two off the pace in tied second after round three, began the day well with a 15-feet birdie conversion on the first hole. The pro from the Delhi Golf Club then accumulated two more birdies at the cost of a bogey till the 11th to be two-under for the day.
Arjun hit rough weather on the 12th and 13th having missed a short birdie putt on the former and dropping a bogey on the latter. With multiple contenders emerging on the back-nine including Deepinder Singh Kullar and Manav Jaini, Arjun managed to get his round back on track with an exceptional second shot from under a tree on the 15th that set up a three feet birdie conversion for him. He made pars on the last three holes to clinch victory.
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Round 3 – Kullar keeps 2-shot lead after Rd 3 at Q-School; Kartik, Vijay in running for card
Round 2 – Veteran Vijay Kumar shares lead with Kullar at PGTI Q-School; Kartik third
Round 1 – Amateur Kartik Sharma takes first step towards getting card PGTI Q-School
