City golfer Amrit Lal wins maiden professional title

Chandigarh’s Amrit Lal edged out Lucknow golfer Sanjeev Kumar and Noida’s Lakshya Nagar in a three-way playoff to register his first professional win at the PGTI NEXGEN 2025 at Patna Golf Club.

The 25-year-old Amrit (70-70-74), who was the overnight joint leader, fired a final round of 2-over 74 to end the regulation 54 holes tied at the top of the leaderboard along with Sanjeev (72-70-72) and Lakshya (68-72-74) at a total score of 2-under 214.

In the three-way playoff, Lakshya crashed out of the contest after making a bogey on the first extra hole. On the second extra hole, Amrit’s consistency helped him prevail as he made par once again while Sanjeev conceded a bogey to fall short.

He walked away with the winning cheque for Rs 2,54,300, which moved him up 13 spots from 17th to 4th in the 2025 PGTI Order of Merit.

Chandimandir’s Umed Kumar (71) took fourth place at 1-under 215. Lucknow’s Rajesh Kumar Gautam, who finished tied ninth at five-over 221 in Patna, continues to lead the 2025 Order of Merit, while Patna’s Mohammed Nawab finished the best among the local professionals as he ended the week in tied 12th at 6-over 222.

Amrit, whose previous best on the NEXGEN was a fourth-place finish, began the day with a two-shot lead along with overnight co-leader Lakshya. He was steady over the first 10 holes, making a birdie on the second, courtesy a 30-ft conversion and not dropping any shot. He then endured a few stutters thanks to few erratic tee shots and approach shots that resulted in four bogeys for him on the back-nine. He managed just one birdie on the back-nine through a 12-ft conversion on the 15th.

“The game was quite sharp this week. I drove, chipped and putted really well. Importantly, I was mentally strong during the playoff and that helped me close out the match. I was actually encouraged by making the cut on the main tour a couple of weeks ago after a long injury-affected spell,” said Amrit.