LET – Drall 7th in Switzerland
Amandeep Drall registered her seasons best finish in Switzerland
29-year-old Amandeep Drall, from Panchkula, shot 67-71-70 (8-under 208) to finish tied 7th at the US$ 200,000 Swiss Open, her season’s best and her first top-10 finish as well. Her previous best was a tie for 26th finish at the Sakfto Open in August in a season where she has made 10 cuts in 16 events in Europe.
Meanwhile fellow Indian pros Vani Kapoor and Diksha Dagar shot identical rounds of 70-71-71 (4-under 212) to finish tied for 25th in Switzerland while Tvesa Malik shot 72-70-74 (even-par 216) for a T39th finish.
Other Indians who missed the cut line at 1-over 145 included
Ridhima Dilawari – 76-72 (+4) and Neha Tripathi – 77-74 (+7)
England’s Liz Young shot 68-67-69 (12-under 204) for her maiden win on the LET. Linn Grant of Sweden finished runner-up with 65-71-69 (11-under 205).
Amandeep Drall, Diksha Dagar, Tvesa Malik, and Vani Kapoor will now head to France for the US$ 325,000 Lacoste Ladies Open from Sep. 15-17.
Asian Tour – Sandhu, top Indian in Japan
Ajeetesh Sandhu finished runners-up at the DGC Open in March
Ajeetesh Sandhu shot 68-66-70-69 (11-under 273) to finish tied for 38th at the US$ 1mn Shinhan Donghae Open on the Asian Tour which was played in Japan instead of Korea for the first time in the long history of the tournament. The tournament was sanctioned by three tours – the Asian Tour, Japan Golf Tour and the Korean PGA Tour.
33-year-old Sandhu has made 9 cuts in 14 events and was in the limelight when he finished 2nd at the US$ 500,000 DGC Open presented by Mastercard, which he lost in a playoff after a tragic double bogey on the penultimate hole on the final day.
Earlier this year, also in Japan, Sandhu finished a creditable 17th in the US$ 750,000 Asia Pacific Open Golf in Ibaraki.
Asian Tour winner Shiv Kapur was the only other Indian to make the cut, finishing 66th with rounds of 69-69-70-71 (5-under 279).
The Indians who missed the cut set were:
S.S.P. Chawrasia – 69-71 (-2)
Gaganjeet Bhullar – 72-71 (+1)
Viraj Madappa – Disqualified
The tournament was won by Kazugi Higa of Japan, who shot 66-63-70-65 (20-under 264) for his first Asian Tour title.
Sandhu now heads to Chinese Taipei, for the US$ 500,000 Yeangder TPC which he won in 2017 followed by the US$1 Million Mercuries Taiwan Masters. A large Indian contingent will feature at the two consecutive events in Taiwan – Shiv Kapur, Rahil Gangjee, Rashid Khan, Chikkarangappa S, Aman Raj, Veer Ahlawat, Honey Baisoya, Udayan Mane, Khalin Joshi and M Dharma.
LPGA – Aditi makes cut in Ohio
Aditi Ashok ranks 93rd on the LPGA’s OOM
Aditi Ashok made her second consecutive cut on the LPGA Tour after a series of misses but finished poorly on the weekend shooting 68-70-76-74 (even-par 288) to finish tied for 58th at the US$ 1.75mn Kroger Championship in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Sweet swinging American Ally Ewing who leads the LPGA Tour in Greens in Regulation with 77% shot 69-64-67-66 (22-under 266) to edge China’s Xiyu Lin 64-68-70-65 (21-under 267) by one shot.
Ashok has made 12 cuts in 21 events this year, with official earnings of US$ 163,206 (₹1.3 crores). That leaves her 95th on the season Money List and 93rd on the Race to CME Globe Season with 204.75 points.
With the top 60 players making it to the tour finals, it is unlikely that Ashok will qualify for the event. She now needs a couple of big weeks with top 5 finishes as she heads to the US$ 1.5mn Portland Classic in Portland, Oregon.
Thai LPGA – Gaurika misses cut in Thailand
Gaurika holds conditional status on the LET
24 year old Gurgaon resident Gaurika Bishnoi, the lone Indian playing this event in Thailand shot 72-73 (145) to miss the cut by a stroke at the 400,000 Thai baht Thailand LPGA Masters at Black Mountain Golf Club.
Last year, Bishnoi advanced to the final qualifier at LET’s Q-School before finishing in a tie for 122nd, which gave her conditional status on the tour.
European Tour – Sharma misses cut in shortened event
Sharma stands 36th on the European Tour rankings
Shubhankar Sharma shot 74-68 (2-under 142) but missed the cut at the US$ 8mn BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth Club, England in the event which was shortened due to the demise of Queen Elizabeth IInd.
The tournament was won by former British Open winner Shane Lowry of Ireland, who has had a series of top 10’s previously at the event as he spectacularly birdied the final hole to win by a shot over Jon Rahm who shot a final round 62 and recently crowned Fedex Cup champion Rory McIlroy. Lowry shot 66-68-65 for a winning total of 17-under 199. McIlroy’s eagle putt on the last hole that would have forced a playoff stopped agonisingly on the right lip of the cup.
The event noticeably featured a number of golfers who have committed to the Saudi-backed LIV Tour, who won a court order against the European Tour which allowed them to play. LIV player Patrick Reed, himself a Masters champion, finished in 4th two strokes off Lowry’s score. Had Reed won, this would have, no doubt been an embarrassment for the tour.
Lowry referenced the rift with the LIV players in his victory speech, saying ““I made no secrets as to how I felt about the whole thing at the start of the week,” said Lowry. “I wanted to go out and win this tournament for myself, first and foremost, but I think for this tour. Everyone that’s stayed loyal to this tour and everyone that’s done everything for this tour. I feel like this is one for the good guys.”
Despite his recent struggles on the European Tour, 26-year-old Shubhankar Sharma is still comfortably placed at 36th in the European Tour Rankings thanks to his second place finish at the start of the year in the lucrative Abu Dhabi event and he will retain his 2023 playing rights in Europe easily while also qualifying for the season ending DP World Championship in Dubai. Sharma will next play at the US$ 3mn Italian Open this week in Rome, Italy.
Credits:-
Photo – LET/Flickr LPGA/PGA/Asian Tour/ DP World Tour
Read more latest stories