By Rahul Banerji
The Army Public School team from Noida, comprising Akshath Sharma and Arin Ahuja clinched the inaugural SelaQui International Inter-School Golf Championship at the Classic Golf & Country Club near Gurgaon recently.
The winning school in the 9-12 age group category was Pathways School, Noida, represented by Ansh Dubey and Arjun Malhotra.
The Best Golfer Award, went to Chandigarh’s Aditya Sood who shot scores of 70 and 71 (3 under par, 141) for the two days of the tournament, organised by the Amandeep Johl Golf Academy.
The event which was presented by Delhi Golf Society (DGS), under the Aegis of the Indian Golf Union (IGU) is recognised by the International Junior Golf Scoreboard, a statement from the organisers said.
In all, 34 school teams and 80 players participated in the event. This tournament will now be an annual event in the IGU calendar, sponsored by the SelaQui International School and presented by the DGS.
Two-way tie for lead
Meanwhile, in the Bahamas, first-time entrant Jon Rahm of Spain and twice runner-up Henrik Stendon of Sweden shared the lead at the halfway mark of the 2018 Hero World Challenge on 10 under 10.
They hold a one-shot lead over Dustin Johnson and Patrick Cantlay heading into the weekend at the Albany links.
Tornament host and world no. 13 Tiger Woods avoided a double hit penalty on his closing hole to record a three under par 69 on day two for a tournament total of two under 142, eight shots behind the leaders.
According to the PGA Tour website, Woods was not aware that he had hit the ball twice with his club face, and the double-hit was detected only through the use of ultras low motion replays.
Close shave
Decision 34-3/10 of the USGA rules put limitations on the use of video evidence. Mark Russell, the PGA Tour vice-president of Rules and Competition, said that Woods’ double-hit at 18 fell under that decision.
“Basically it says if the player did not know that he did that and the only way you can tell that is by using this type of slow-motion technology, he’s exempt from the rules,” said Russell, who viewed the replay at the nearby TV compound. “So there’s no penalty there.”
Woods’ tee shot at the par-418th finished in a sandy area under a bush to the right of the fairway. While kneeling on his right knee, Woods used an 8-iron to flick the ball back onto the grass.
He then waited for close to half an hour to sign his card and did so after meeting tournament officials to find out if he had been penalised,
Bogey-free
World no. 8 Rahm followed his opening round of 71 with a bogey-free 9-under card on Friday.
The two-time PGA Tour winner had three birdies on the last four holes of his front nine and then picked up a further five shots including a long birdie putt from the edge of the 10th green that kickstarted the roll.
“I hit it so solid off the tee, I was always in the fairway with a short club in,” Rahm said.
“Besides that, I followed with some good iron play. I capitalised on the easier holes today, played really good. It didn’t seem like much could go wrong. After that putt on 10 I got a lot of confidence and was swinging really aggressively at the pin.”
Stenson has been second at the HWC twice, in 2014 and 2016. On Friday, he put himself in with a chance to change that for the better with birdies on three of his first five holes, and after a bogey picked up three straight shots.
“I’m feeling pretty good,” Stenson said. “Putting’s been really solid these first couple of days. Short game as well, a lot of good up and downs. A couple of wishy-washy shots, but all in all, in good shape.”
Johnson had four birdies to round off a 5-under-par round while overnight leader Cantlay stayed steady to remain within a stroke of the lead.
Tony Finau, another first-timer at the HWC, moved into a tie for fifth place with an 8 under round to follow his 72 of the first day.
Patrick Reed, who shared the top spot with Cantlay after the first round, struggled to 5 over par round.
Also read: Tiger sits mid-pack in field for 2018 Hero World Challenge
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