Ajeetesh Sandhu looks closer to another Asian Tour title
Asian Tour – 3 Indians in top-10 in Taiwan
Former Asian Tour winners Ajeetesh Sandhu & Rashid Khan, along with Honey Baisoya, a winner multiple times on the PGTI, finished tied-8th at the US$ 700,000 Asian Tour event in Chinese Taipei.l
Ajeetesh Sandhu shot 67-68 in his first 36 holes to lie tied-2nd but fell back with a third round 73. His 68 in the final round brought him back to tied-8th at the event.
Rashid Khan shot 68-70 in his first 36 holes and continued with similar scores of 70-68 in the last two rounds. Honey Baisoya remained steady with 71-69-69-69 to join them.
Rashid Khan has registered 4 top-10s on the Asian Tour this season
Meanwhile Bangalore’s popular Chikkarangappa. shot 69-68-73-70 (9-under 279) to finish tied-18th.
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Other Indian players who made the cut included –
Shiv Kapur & Rahil Gangjee – tied-29th at 6-under 282
Veer Ahlawat – tied-36th at 5-under 283
S.S.P. Chawrasia & Udayan Mane – tied-42nd at 2-under 286
Karandeep Kochhar & Manu Gandas – tied-49th at 1–under 287
Aman Raj – tied-74th at 5-over 293
Players who missed the cut at even-par 144 included –
Viraj Madappa – 75-70 (+1)
Aadil Bedi – 69-77 (+2)
Khalin Joshi – 73-73 (+2)
M Dharma – 75-75 (+6)
The Indian squad will continue to play this week in Taiwan at the US$ 1mn Mercuries Taiwan Masters where 13 Indians will be seen in action – Shiv Kapur, Rahil Gangjee, Ajeetesh Sandhu, Rashid Khan, Chikkarangappa S, Viraj Madappa, Aman Raj, S.S.P. Chawrasia, Veer Ahlawat, Karandeep Kochhar, Honey Baisoya, M Dharma, and Udayan Mane
ADT Tour – Kshitij 13th in Indonesia
21-year-old super talented Delhi youngster, Kshitij Kaul continued his pursuit of international experience shot 75-68-69-69 (7-under 281) to finish tied-13th at the US$ 100,000 Asian Development Tour event in Indonesia.
Kshitij, who has been a PGTI winner and has several top 10’s to his credit is known for a slightly unconventional swing based on the theory of The Golfing Machine followed most famously by big hitting Bryson DeChambeau. Kshitij has a record of posting a top-10 finish on the PGTI at age 14 at The Oxford Western India Open.
The strapping 6 foot 3 inch tall player returns to India to play the Kapil – Dev Grant Thornton Invitational at DLF Golf & CC in Gurgaon.
LET – Vani, Tvesa make cuts in Ireland
28-year-old Vani Kapoor and 26-year-old Tvesa Malik of Gurgaon, finished tied-29th and tied-49th at the US$ 400,000 Women’s Irish Open at Dromoland Castle in Ireland.
Vani shot rounds of 72-70-70-70 (6-under 282) and Tvesa 73-69-73-72 (1-under 287) to make yet another cut of the season.
Other Indians who missed the cut line set at 1-under 143 included –
Diksha Dagar – 72-75 (+3)
Amandeep Drall – 74-80 (+10)
The tournament was won by Kiara Spilkova of Czech Republic who shot 66-68-73-67 (14-under 274) to get into a three-way playoff against Ursula Wikstrom of Finland and Nicole Broch Estrup of Denmark and made birdie on the first extra hole to win her second career title on the Ladies European Tour.
Aditi Ashok, Diksha Dagar and Tvesa Malik will now play next at the US$ 1mn Aramco Team Series New York from Oct. 13-15 before returning for the US$ 400,000 Hero Women’s Indian Open, the following week in Gurgaon, India.
LPGA – Aditi misses in Arkansas
Aditi Ashok shot 73-67 (2-under 140) to miss the cut at the US$ 2.3mn NW Arkansas Championship at Pinnacle Country Club in Rogers, Arkansas.
The tournament was won by Thai Atthaya Thittikul who shot 67-61-68 (17-under 196) to get into a playoff against Danielle Kang 67-65-64 (17-under 196) and beat her on the second extra hole. The two matched pars on No. 15, the first extra hole, and then Thitikul made a birdie putt on No. 16 to win.
Thitukul had won the JTBC Classic presented by Barbasol earlier the season in a playoff.
The $345,000 first-place check pushed her earnings to $1,881,392 for the season. She has made 19 cuts in 20 events and added nine additional top 10s, including a solo fourth at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.
Ashok has made 13 cuts in 23 events this year, with official earnings of US$ 171,343 (₹1.36 crores). That leaves her 95th on the season Money List and 96th on the Race to CME Globe Season with 220 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 to get in.
Epson Tour – Nishtha misses cut
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Also playing in Arkansas, 24-year-old Nishtha Madan shot 75-81 (12-over 156) but missed the cut at the US$ 200,000 Murphy USA El Dorado Shootout in El Dorado, Arkansas.
American Brittany Yada shot 69-71-65 (11-under 205) to win the tournament by two-strokes over Bailey Tardy of USA at 9-under 207.
The top 10 finishers at the end of the Epson tour season earn their playing rights on the lucrative LPGA Tour but Nishtha currently lies 65th having made only 9 cuts in 18 starts.
Madan will play her next Epson Tour event, Sep. 30 – Oct. 2 in Alabama.