Chikka climbs 104 places in world ranking after Golconda Masters win

By Rahul Banerji

The returns available after introduction of the Official World Golf Ranking points on the PGTI from last week reflected in the 104-place gain made by Golconda Masters winner Chikkarangappa S., who climbed from 461^st in the rankings to 357th.

And there’s more around the corner.

The joint runners-up at Hyderabad, Aman Raj and M. Dharma, took 2.50 points each. While Aman moved up from 930 to 745, Dharma rose from 1010 to 798, while Karandeep Kochhar’s fourth place finish saw him collect 1.60 points, taking him from 908 to 790.

Honey Baisoya, Udayan Mane and Priyanshu Singh, who were tied fifth pocketed 1.20 points each to go from 887 to 803 (Baisoya) and 1095 to 962 (Mane) while tour rookie Priyanshu made his first appearance on the rankings at 1558.

More at stake

The stakes will now be higher at the ongoing PGTI Players Championship at the Classic Golf & Country Club where the participation of India’s highest-ranked golfer, Shubhankar Sharma, currently ranked 119 in the world, has ensured an increase in world ranking points.

At the Players, the points break-up is as follows: 1^st: 7 points; 2^nd: 4.2; 3^rd: 2.8; 4^th: 2.1; 5^th: 1.68; 6^th: 1.4; 7^th: 1.26.

Kapil, Akshay in joint lead

Meanwhile, at the PGTI Players Championship that got under way on Tuesday, Delhi’s Kapil Kumar and Chandigarh’s Akshay Sharma went five-under- par 67 to share the lead at the Classic Golf & Country Club near Gurgaon.

Delhi’s Himmat Singh Rai and Naman Dawar and Kolkata’s Sunit Chowrasia were tied for third at four-under-68 while Shubhankar Sharma, who returned to play on the PGTI after over a year, began his week with a two-under-70 for shared 11^th place.

Kapil, 18^th on the 2018 PGTI Order of Merit, made a solid start on Tuesday. The 26-year-old made the turn at two-under after leaving himself a few short birdie conversions. He then recovered well from a bogey to go eagle-birdie-birdie to end the day with an impressive 67 after bogey-birdie on the last two holes.

Confidence-boost

Kapil said later, “It was the driving and putting that clicked for me today. I also played some good chips. The four-under on the last five holes helped me close the day high on confidence. Putting will be the key this week. Whoever grabs most opportunities on the greens is set to score well.

“I’m carrying forward the positives from last season which was quite decent for me since I posted three top-6 finishes. I’ll look to perform even better this year.”

Akshay, a winner on the PGTI last year, put together seven birdies and two bogeys in his round, even as Shubhankar mixed an eagle and two birdies with two bogeys during his first round.

Delhi’s Rashid Khan was tied 42^nd at 72.

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