Gurugram boy Priyanshu claims six-shot win

Delhi’s Wasim Khan (74-71-71-72), last year’s PGTI Q School champion, finished second at even-par-288 after shooting a final round of even-par-72.

Priyanshu (72-70-70-70) topped the leaderboard at the end of the fourth and last round with a total of six-under-282 at the Kensville Golf and Country Club.

Gurugram’s Priyanshu Singh walked away with the honours, registering a thumping six-shot win at the PGTI’s Final Qualifying Stage for the 2019 season here on Thursday.

Priyanshu (72-70-70-70) topped the leaderboard at the end of the fourth and last round with a total of six-under-282 at the Kensville Golf and Country Club.

The 22-year-old, who led the field from the second round till the end, signed off with a third successive two-under-70 in the final round.

Delhi’s Wasim Khan (74-71-71-72), last year’s PGTI Q School champion, finished second at even-par-288 after shooting a final round of even-par-72.

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At the end of round four, the top 41 players earned their cards for the 2019 PGTI season as the cut in the final round went at 17-over-305.

Among the three players tied in 41st, Arjun Singh Chaudhri of Noida was the only one who made the cut based on the round four scores.

The top 41 included six amateurs. There were also five foreigners among the 41 players who earned their full cards. The foreigners included three Bangladeshis, one Nepali and one American.

Priyanshu, who enjoyed a four-shot lead coming into the final round, had a terrible start as he traded a birdie with three bogeys on the front-nine as a result of missing some short conversions.

But he came roaring back on the back-nine courtesy four birdies. He hit a superb nine-iron second shot from 150 yards on the 10th that almost found the hole and led to a tap-in birdie. He also sank birdie putts from a range of 15 to 20 feet on the 12th and 15th.

“It’s just been an exceptional and memorable two weeks for me. In the Final Stage, I was just feeding off the confidence from my victory in Pre Qualifying II. I’m now extremely excited about playing on a tour that will have world ranking points. That will really motivate me to work harder,” Priyanshu said.

Runner-up Wasim Khan struck four birdies and four bogeys during his final round of 72.

Seventeen-year-old Chandigarh lad Aadil Bedi (73), who recently earned his Asian Tour card, took a share of third place along with Bangladesh’s Md Dulal Hossain (73) and Mumbai’s Anil Bajrang Mane (75).

The lone amateur who finished inside the top-10 was Noida’s Hari Mohan Singh. He finished tied 10th at nine-over-297.