Anant of Panchkula takes lead in golf tourney

Panchkula amateur golfer Anant Singh Ahlawat carded a solid 4-under 67 to storm into a two-shot lead at a total of 15-under 198 after round three of the final qualifying stage at the Tata Steel PGTI Qualifying School 2025 at the Golmuri Golf Course in Jamshedpur.

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Round one leader Divyansh Dubey (68) of Pune and round two leader Ankur Chadha (70) of Gurugram were placed tied second at totals of 13-under 200. The 28-year-old Ahlawat (67-64-67), who was overnight second and one shot off the lead, began the day with a couple of great bunker shots that set up birdies for him on the second and fourth holes and negated his bogey on the third hole.

Ahlawat, a winner of five amateur titles, including two at Golmuri, then added four more birdies to his card at the cost of another bogey. Ahlawat, who was ranked India No. 2 on the amateur circuit last year and represented India at the Nomura Cup in 2024, drove the par-4 12th green on Thursday and also made a 15-feet conversion on the 16th. He scored birdies on all four par-5s.

“I’ve been striking it well through the week and have an average of 15 to 16 greens in regulation so far in this event. The putting has also been sharp as I made 32 putts today and 29 in round two. Importantly, I’ve dropped just four bogeys so far this week,” said Ahlawat, a former All-India Amateur Champion and National Games gold medallist. Dubey came up with an eagle, three birdies and a double-bogey during his round of 68 while Chadha’s round of 70 featured three birdies and two bogeys. At the end of round four, the top 32 players (+ties) will earn their full cards for the 2025 PGTI season.