Honey Baisoya was the lone Indian in top 35 at the Qualifier
27-year-old Honey Baisoya, who calls DLF Golf & CC in Gurgaon his home club, shot 69-69-68-70-73 over the course of five days to secure the 25th position at the Asian Tour Q-School Final Stage in Thailand and earn a coveted Asian Tour card for the 2024 season. Baisoya, a seven-time winner on the PGTI, had gained a direct exemption into the Final Stage based on his 72nd position on the 2023 Asian Tour Order of Merit.
Among the 16 Indian professionals, only three made the 72-hole cut, and the top 35 were offered the Asian Tour card. Aman Raj, who finished second on the PGTI’s Order of Merit in 2023, shot 73-68-71-69-74 to secure a 56th place finish at 3-under par in the qualifier.
Rahil Gangjee shot 73-71-69-71-73, earning a 64th place finish in the qualifier, while Khalin Joshi shot 73-70-70-72, missing the 72-hole cut by one shot.
All the players who participated in the Final Stage are now eligible to play on the Asian Development Tour (ADT) in 2024.
Players making it in the top 35 came from 15 different countries which shows the truly global character of the Asian Tour today:
Six players – Australia
Five players each – Japan, USA and South Korea
Two players each – Sweden, Thailand & China
One player each – Philippines , England, India, South Africa, Canada, Argentina, Spain & Italy
India has been fairly consistent over the past decade in their representation in the top 100 in the Asian Tour rankings:
In 2012 and 2013 India had 10 and 12 players in the top 100 of the Asian Tour rankings whereas in 2022 and 2023 they had 11 and 8.
However, as mentioned by India Golf Weekly in the past, where India has lost out is in victories on the Asian Tour – compared with the haydays of Jeev Milkha Singh, Jyoti Randhawa and Arjun Atwal, in the last 5 years, the number of victories by Indians has dropped considerably.
And tragically, 2024 is likely to be the first time in 50 years with no Asian Tour event played on Indian soil, with the Hero Indian Open electing to be sanctioned by only the European Tour and not jointly with the Asian Tour. The disappearance of the Delhi GC Open, which was fully sanctioned by the Asian Tour, began with great fanfare in 2022 and repeated in 2023 has struck a deadly blow for Indian golfers hoping to get a boost in their rankings on the Asian Tour.
Other Indian pros who missed the 72-hole Asian Tour qualifying cut included –
Khalin Joshi -1
Kartik Sharma – Par
Saptak Talwar -Par
Sunhit Bishnoi +1
Yashas Chandra +2
Arjun Prasad +2
Gaurav Singh +2
Pukhraj Singh Gill +4
Manu Gandas WDN
Photo – Asian Tour