Haryana Open: Rahil Gangjee claims lead
Rahil Gangjee, who bagged two international titles earlier this year, continued his sizzling form with a superb 9-under 63 to take the first-round lead in the Rs 1 crore Haryana Open 2024 at the Panchkula Golf Club.
Ahmedabad’s Varun Parikh came up with a personal best score of 8-under 64 to be placed second. Defending champion Jairaj Singh Sandhu of Chandigarh was tied at third with 7-under 65 along with teenage rookie Anshul Kabthiyal, N Thangaraja, Dhruv Sheoran and Kshitij Naveed Kaul.
Chandigarh’s Harendra Gupta was the other tricity golfer in the top 10 as he carded a 67 to be tied at 9th. The seasoned Rahil Gangjee, currently fourth on the Tats Steel PGTI Ranking with five top 10s on the PGTI this season, stamped his authority on day one with an eagle and eight birdies at the expense of a lone bogey.
Forty-six-year-old Rahil, a winner of five international titles, including two on the Asian Development Tour this year, began his day from the 10th hole and scored five birdies on the back, nine that featured three conversions from a range of 12 to 30 feet.
Gangjee then carried forward the momentum with some excellent wedge-play on the front-nine leaving himself two birdie tap-ins. After a bogey on the eighth, Rahil bounced back by holing out his approach shot from 140 yards for an eagle-two on the par-4 ninth.
Gangjee said, “I’m really happy with the year so far. I worked a lot on the mental aspect of my game. I’m also feeling good physically at the moment after having recovered from a couple of injuries that hampered my game for some time. I’m now looking forward to winning at the PGTI as it’s been a long time since I’ve done that.
Earlier in the day, Varun Parikh sank three 25-footers and produced some excellent chip-putts in his round of 64. Reigning champion Jairaj Singh Sandhu drove and putted well to shoot an error-free 65 on day one.
Shankar Das, team win Pro-Am
Panchkula: Kolkata-based professional Shankar Das and team won the Pro-Am event of the Haryana Open 2024 played at the Panchkula Golf Club. Shankar’s team consisted of amateurs Maj-Gen Bhupinder Singh, Ajay Wadhwa and Sanjay Mahajan. The winning pack posted a score of 53.3 to win the event. Gurugram-based professional Kartik Sharma and his team of Gopal Munjal, Rajat Seth and Pooja Narwal claimed the runners-up spot with a score of 53.6.
The contest for the closest to the pin (on hole no. 4) was won by Maj-Gen Bhupinder Singh, who landed the shot within10 feet of the pin. The closest to the pin (on hole no. 17) was won by Sanjeev Chaudhary, who landed it four feet and four inches from the pin. The prize for the straightest drive (on hole no. 8) won by Sanjeev Goyal, who landed his drive on the centre of the fairway. Jaskirat Manchanda, with a shot covering 289 yards, won the longest drive contest (on hole no. 14).
