The top Nepali pro improves 10 places in PGTI Order of Merit, moves up to 31; Indian pro Chouhan wins tournament
Kathmandu, March 26
Top Nepali golfer Sukra Bahadur Rai finished joint 57th in the Duncan Taylor Black Bull Challenge at the Karnataka Golf Association course in Bengaluru today.
The 25-year-old Rai carded two-under 70 in the final round for the 72-hole total of two-under 286 in the $300,000 event, jointly-sanctioned by Professional Golf Tour of India and Challenge Tour, a second-tier tour of European Tour. He earned INR 82,170 for finishing 57th along with Swiss Fiorino Clerici and French Mathieu Decottignies-Lafon.
Rai, who was tied for 64th after three-over 75 in the third round, settled for two-under 70 despite carding seven birdies on the final day. He played even-par 36 on the front nine that included three each birdies and bogeys. The Dharan-based pro made a flying start with birdies on the first and third holes added another on the fifth but he dropped shots on the fourth, eighth and ninth holes. After taking the turn, he carded three straight birdies from the 10th and added fourth on the 15th hole. But he was undone by bogeys on the 16th and 18th holes.
Rai said competing alongside top players from Europe and South Asia was a good experience for him. "I got a chance to take part in the tournament and it was an opportu-nity for me to learn a lot from top players," said Rai. "This was my first time in the Challenge Tour event and I tried my best to keep the scores low in a field which was very competitive," he added.
Rai was two strokes behind the projected cut line after he played even-par 72 in the first round and he bounced back strongly carding three-under 69 on the second day to make it to the money-making final two rounds. But he played a forgettable five-over 41 on the back nine and had to settle for three-over 75 in the third round. The tournament was third for Rai in the PGTI's 2023 season since earning full cards for the second straight year and he has made cuts in all events played so far. After the tournament, he moved 10 places up to 31st position in the Order of Merit with the earning of INR 276,737.
Indian pro Om Prakash Chouhan produced the best card of the day shooting a seven-under 65 to win the tournament by two strokes and earned INR 3.98 million.
Chouhan - who was tied for second with England's Ashley Chesters, Spain's Victor Pastor and Sweden's Rikard Karlberg going into the final round - played a bogey-free 65 to post the 72-hole total of 20-under 268. Chesters and Pastor carded 67 each to share the second position at 18-under 270 and they received INR 2.24 million each. Overnight leader Italian pro Lorenzo Scalise dropped to fourth at 272 after he managed just one-under 71 in the final round. Karlberg carded three-under 69 to finish fifth at 15-under 273. Scalise and Karlberg earned INR 1.49 million and INR 1.24 million respectively.
The next event of the Indian Tour, The Challenge Tour - also jointly-sanctioned by Professional Golf Tour of India and Challenge Tour - is slated for March 28-31 at the same course. Nepal's pro Rai is in waiting list for the $300,000 tournament.
A version of this article appears in the print on March 27, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.
