By Rahul Banerji
Teenager Aadil Bedi led the way as four Indians earned their full cards for the upcoming season on the fifth and final day of the Asian Tour’s Qualifying School in Hua Hun, Thailand, on Sunday.
Tweeted the elated young man, who was the youngest to tee up for the week-long qualifying series and finished shared ninth overall, “With bogey free 8 under today secured full tour @asiantourgolf (ASIAN TOUR) card. 5 days score was 67, 72, 68, 69 & 63 with total 26 birdies.”
Bedi, who lost a close friend coming into the week and had a 16 under total of 339, said later, “I lost a dear friend on the first day, back home. It was tough mentally, but I managed to play well and I’m glad that it has all come together.”
Kohli as mentor
The young man, who first picked up golf when he was just four years old and is mentored by India cricket captain Virat Kohli, added, “I had belief in myself that I had the game to earn the card.
“Now that I’ve earned the card, there’s more purpose in my practice and I’ll be definitely looking forward to the tournaments that I get to play.
“It was difficult to focus at times. When there are long waits between holes, or between rounds at night, I think about my friend. But, it was a good week. I’ve played really solid in all parts of my game.”
Over a 13-year amateur career, Bedi has won 171 medals and trophies and represented India at major amateur matches around the world including the Asian Games, the British Amateurs, the Australian Amateur Masters, Singapore Amateur and Eisenhower Cup.
Good Asiad show
At the Asiad in Jakarta, Bedi finished in 13th place after being in the upper section of the leaderboard for the first three days.
He earned an invitation to play at the Asian Development Tour season-ender last month where he finished tied 12th at the PGM Maybank ADT Championship. Bedi’s best result as a professional came at the Bengaluru Open on the PGTI where he finished third a fortnight ago.
Qualifying along with the Chandigarh lad were maiden PGTI title winner Aman Raj of Patna (15 under, tied 13th), former Panasonic Open India champion Chiragh Kumar and Abhijit Chadha (both 10 under par, tied 35th), even as Austen Truslow of the United States topped the field with a closing six-under-par 65 to secure his card.
Top performer
Truslow was also the leading player to progress from the first stage last week as he finished with a five-day total of 24-under-par 331.Thailand’s Gunn Charoenkul also completed his run at the Lakeview Resort and Golf Club with the lowest score of the day with a 61 to finish second.
Thailand’s Sadom Kaewkanjana and China’s Jin Cheng will meanwhile give up their amateur status after emerging as the top-35 and ties players to earn their Tour cards after five rounds.
The pair will be hoping to carry forward their distinguished amateur record as they start their early professional careers on the Asian Tour.
Also read: Record seven Indians reach final stage of LET Q-School
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