By Rahul Banerji
Zubin Nijhawan of Panchkula and Mumbai’s Akash Modi topped the standings after round two of the PGTI Pre Qualifying I for the 2020 season at the Kensville Golf & Country Club near Ahmedabad on Sunday.
The duo both returned two-day totals of 2-under-142.
From a total field of 98 in the PGTI Pre Qualifying I, 28 players qualified for the Final Qualifying Stage as three players were tied in 26th place when the cut was declared at 8-over-152.
Overnight co-leader Nijhawan (70-72), kept his lead on day two with four birdies against a bogey and a triple.
Modi (71-71), lying overnight third and one shot off the lead, made two birdies and a bogey on Sunday to move into joint first place.
Pankaj Maandiya (74-70) of Mhow finished third on level-par-144.
Noida’s Manpreet Mann and Gurugram-based amateur Kartik Sharma were tied fourth on 1-over-145.
Justin Thomas wins Hawaii playoff
In Hawaii, world number 5 Justin Thomas held off Presidents Cup team-mates Patrick Reed and Xander Schauffele to win the $6.7 million Sentry Tournament of Champions for a second time late on Sunday.
It was his 12th PGA Tour win in all, and came after three playoff holes at the Kapalua Country Club. It also made him the most successful current player under 30 years of age on the Tour.
Tied on 14-under par 278s after 72 holes, Thomas first saw defending champion Schauffele drop out on the 18th playoff hole with par.
He and Reed then shared the second with pars on the par-5 hole before Reed was unable to convert a birdie putt to let the 2017 Sentry ToC winner get his hands back on the glass trophy.
Roller-coaster
It was a roller-coaster final round for the winner. At one point, Thomas looked like he had it all sealed up by the ninth hole with four birdies on the trot between the eighth and 11th holes.
With three holes to go and two shots up on his chasers, Thomas dropped a shot and then bogeyed the final hole to make it a three-way battle for the top prize.
“The emotions and how I was winning and then I was barely winning and then I was losing and then I barely got in a playoff… that takes a lot out of you. I probably don’t seem as elated as I might be or as I would hope to be,” Thomas was later quoted as saying.
“I truly felt like through 15 holes it was one of the best rounds I had played. I was in such control tee to green.
“I was putting it beautifully, my irons were awesome, and I hit a really good drive on 16, just the wind took it more, and then 18 was just a disaster. I really didn’t hit very many good shots on the hole. But it worked out.”
FedEx leader
The result took him to the top of the FedEx Cup standings and gave him a second win of the season from six starts so far after the CJ Cup @ Nine Bridges event in Korea last October.
Overnight leader Schauffele could have averted the playoff but he three-putted the final hole after Reed had already finished his round.
“I should have won the tournament. I know it. Everyone knows it,” Schauffele said later. :Under the circumstances I should have closed it off, and I didn’t.
“I kind of did everything I was supposed to do until the last moment, which sucks. But this is another learning experience.”
Also read: What constitutes the perfect golf swing?
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