By Rahul Banerji
Shivendra Singh Sisodia of Golden Greens Golf Club topped the inaugural Ultimate Pro Challenge Invitational for tour dependent professionals on his home course on Wednesday.
The event, backed by the Ultimate Foundation, was played in two sections, one for the 20 participating pros, and the Ultimate Pro-Am Team Challenge, won by Abhinav Lohan’s team.
The main tournament had prize money besides a guaranteed sum plus caddy fee for the pro participants with the winner and runner-up earning Rs 35,000 and Rs 25,000 respectively.
Sisodhia, who trains at the trains at the Ultimate Golf Performance Center, carded a 4-under 68 for the win. He has been supported by the Ultimate Foundation since the outbreak of the pandemic.
The Pro-Am was played to also engage and thank amateurs supporting the foundation and its cause.
The six groups had three amateurs paired with a star pro who backs the foundation by lending their name and also their time.
The 18 amateurs included two foundation youngsters selected at the foundations first talent hunt programme, “Sprint One”.
The events were managed by the “Ultimate Army” comprised of foundation trustees and volunteers, mostly kids who are students at the Ultimate GPC.
Well-supported
Top pros Rashid Khan and Vani Kapoor were amongst those who turned out for the series that has been endorsed by Jeev Milkha Singh, Shiv Kapoor, Anirban Lahiri, S.S.P. Chawrasia and others.
The others were Aman Raj, Kshitij Naved Kaul, Digvijay Singh and Lohan.
Also on board in support of the initiative are Gaganjeet Bhullar, Diksha Dagar, Khalin Joshi, Ajeetesh Sandhu, Chikkarangappa S. and 2019 Order of Merit topper Udayan Mane.
Jyoti Randhawa and Digvijay are among founding members of The Ultimate Foundation.
Lahiri stumbles in Bermuda
Aniran Lahiri briefly held the early lead on the opening morning of the Bermuda Championship in Port Royal on Thursday before stumbling on his way back to the clubhouse.
The 33-year-old went out in 4-under 32, balancing five birdies against one bogey.
His back nine though was the almost exact opposite with two birdies against three dropped shots for a day’s total of 3-under 68 and a share of 25th place.
Arjun Atwal brought in a 4-over 75 in his opening round.
Peter Malnati held the overnight lead with an 8-under 63 and a one-shot lead on Thursday over Ryan Armour and Doug Ghim.
The American birdied the final hole for the ninth of his round against one dropped shot.
According to the PGA Tour website, it was the third time in his last three events that Malnati posted a 63 or lower.
He was runner-up at the Sanderson Farms Championship in Mississippi and followed that with a tie for fifth at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open.
The Bermuda Championship received full status this year because the HSBC Champions in Shanghai was called off because of the pandemic.
This will be the first of consecutive PGA Tour events allowing limited fans.
Three-time major champion and Ryder Cup captain Padraig Harrington opened with a 67. Harrington won at Port Royal in 2013 in the final stages of the course hosting the PGA Grand Slam of Golf.
Sharma on fire at Cyprus Open
At the Aphrodite Hills Cyprus Open on the European Tour, Shubhankar Sharma had rounds of 67 and 66 to sit provisionally in a share of sixth place on Friday on 9-under 133.
Shiv Shankar Prasad Chawrasia though looked in danger of missing out with cards of 71 and 70 for a 1-under aggregate 141, two below the projected cut line.
Sharma, who struggled early on in his return to Europe has been putting together solid rounds recently, dropped shots on his opening two holes on Friday but hit back almost immediately.
The 24-year-old had a birdie and an eagle on his level par outbound nine and caught fire on his way back with four birdies for a day’s total of 5-under 66 to go with Thursday’s 67.
Also read: Hard times bring golf pros together to create mini series
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