Jhared Hack of the US on his way to top spot in Pre Qualifying III of the PGTI’s 2026 Q School at the Kensville course near Ahmedabad on Saturday. Image courtesy PGTI.
By Rahul Banerji
Jhared Hack took top honours by a three-shot margin at Pre-Qualifying III of the PGTI Qualifying School at the Kensville Golf & Country Club near Ahmedabad on Saturday.
The American golfer fired an error-free 4 under par 68 in the second round to follow his opening 70 to top the final preliminary stage of the 2026 Q School, the PGTI said.
The 36-year-old Hack (70-68), a resident of Las Vegas on his first trip to India, totalled 6 under 138 as the top 26 from a starting field of 132 went through to the Final Stage.
The cut was declared at 5 over 149.
Hack, who has previously played on the Korn Ferry Tour, Canadian Tour and the PGA Tour Latinoamerica, had a solitary birdie on the front nine.
He then put in a late surge with three birdies over the last four holes which included a 40-foot conversion on the 18.
Valuable practice
“Coming here from the US, I managed to acclimatise well before the start of the Pre-Q event with some valuable practice at another golf course in Ahmedabad,” Hack said.
“I was fortunate to be hosted by Ahmedabad-based professional Jay Pandya at his home.
“So, I was quite relaxed at the start of the event and that was evident with my terrific first nine on day one.
“However, I was in a spot of bother after hitting it out of bounds on a couple of occasions on my second nine.
“But I managed a couple of birdies on that stretch to stay in contention. I was a little nervous to begin with in round two. But I chipped and putted well today to finally come through.”
The Pre Q III leaderboard had a strong international flavour as Japan’s Taiga Tanaka (71-70) was second at 3 under 141.
Canada’s Sukhraj Singh Gill finished third on 2 under 142 and Malaysia’s Muhammad Nafis Najmie Bin Darnalis was fourth on 143.
Top Indian
Amateur Samarpratap Singh Sandhu finished as the best-placed Indian at fifth on level par 144.
In all, 91 came the three Pre-Qualifying events and will be joined by 42 players in the Final Stage making for a total field of 133 for the final four days at Kensville from next Tuesday.
On Friday, Malaysia’s Bin Darnalis carded a 4 under 68 for the first round lead ahead of Anirudh Kamireddypalli (69), while Hack shared third place with Pranav Kaul.
The 25-year-old Nafis, on his first trip to India, said, “I’m really excited to be here.
“I recently turned professional and found out about the PGTI from the internet and felt it would be a great platform for me to begin my professional journey.”
Also read: Karayat wins Pre-Q II by wide margin, 38 more into Final Stage
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