PGTI 72TheLeague: Kartik Singh's grit steals the show on opening day

Nuh (Haryana), Feb 24 (IANS) Kartik Singh, who recently turned 16, provided a stunning start to the PGTI’s 72 The League when the Mumbai Aces teenager took the in-form American Jhared Hack of Nava Raipur to the 18th hole of a fascinating battle, before halving his match at the Classic Golf & Country Club in Nuh, Haryana.

Singh was 1-up after 15 holes before Hack pulled back with a birdie.

The action on the 18th hole was intense with good tee shots by both. Hack, who recently shot a 59 on a PGTI event in Chattisgarh, then hit his second shot on the par-5 18th to 12 feet, ratcheting up the pressure on Singh.

However, Singh responded wonderfully, hitting his second shot from 210 yards to 16 feet. He missed his eagle putt, but so did Hack to tie the match.

“Obviously, I would have liked to make the putt on the last hole and win, but I’m really happy that I was able to halve the match.

It was a really tough match,” said Singh, who turned professional last year. “He didn’t really give me many chances to go up because he was playing very consistently today. I made six birdies, but it felt like every time I would make a birdie, he would do the same.

“I felt really proud that I was chosen by my team for the singles, because singles are the first ones to tee off and the first match definitely sets the pace for the day,” he said.

Captain Ajeetesh Sandhu’s Rajasthan Regals were off to a fine start, ending the day unbeaten against the strong Kolkata Classics.

They won both their singles and the foursomes, and Akshay Sharma and Jairaj Singh Sandhu held the strong pairing of Khalin Joshi and Angad Cheema to a tie.

The foursomes were a good win for Regals, as Chikkarangappa S. and Dhruv Sheoran beat Rashid Khan and Ajay Baisoya by 3&2, despite losing two of the first six holes.

Sandhu said after the round: “It was very pleasing. Very happy with the result. I think we had a good plan going into today and we executed accordingly.

That was our goal, and I’m really glad that we were able to pull through.

“We spoke last night, and eventually, it was a bit of a mix and match. A couple of the guys got along immediately, and we knew that was a strong pairing to go ahead with. Some of the guys were feeling good about their games, and they wanted to play singles. It was a bit of a mix-and-match, but I think every team is trying to figure out as they go along,” said Sandhu.

Rajasthan’s K. Prabagaran put up the first win in the history of the PGTI’s 72nd League when he beat veteran Mukesh Kumar 5&4.

The Sri Lankan, winner of the 2006 All-India Amateur Championship, won the third and fourth holes with birdies and never looked back. That included a long, well-read 25-foot putt on the fourth. “I really enjoy playing singles, and I thought I played very well against Mukesh. I made some very good putts and drove the ball ok. It’s a proud moment for me that I scored the first point of the new league,” said Prabagaran.

The last match of the day, a fourball between Nava Raipur’s Shivendra Singh Sisodia and Mohammed Azhar against Tapendra Ghai and Kushal Singh of Mumbai Aces, could not be finished because of darkness.

The two teams will return to the golf course on Monday, when the tournament comes back to this venue.

The second round of the league will be played on Tuesday at Jaypee Greens Golf Course in Noida. Rajasthan Regals will take on Charminar Champions, while the other two matches will be between Kolkata Classics and Mumbai Aces and UP Prometheans and Nava Raipur.

League standings after the 1st round:

Rajasthan Regals – 13 points

UP Prometheans – 8 points

Nava Raipur – 8 points*

Charminar Champions – 5 points

Mumbai Aces – 2 points*

Kolkata Classics – 1 point

(* denotes one unfinished fourball match, the result of which will be determined on Monday).

--IANS

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