Sports News | Ahlawat Top Indian at T-22nd in Riyadh

Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), Dec 15 (PTI) Veer Ahlawat opened with a 1-under 70 to be the best placed Indian golfer at T-22 after the first round of the USD 1 million Saudi Open here.

S Chikkarangappa and Yuvraj Sandhu, who has gained his card through the Asian Development Tour for 2024, are lying T-32 with rounds of even par 71 each at the season-ending event on the Asian Tour.

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Thailand's Chapchai Nirat rolled back the years shooting a seven-under-par 64 to take the lead. His young amateur compatriot Ratchanon ‘TK” Chantananuwat is tied second following a 66.

TK is tied with Mexico's Luis Carrera, while American Kevin Na, Korean Jung Chanmin and Australia's Todd Sinnott shot 67s on an unexpectedly windy day at the Par-71 Riyadh Golf Club.

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Ajeetesh Sandhu, who needs a good finish to get his 2024 playing rights, shot 2-over 73 and was T-60th as were Honey Baisoya and Karandeep Kochhar.

Rashid Khan and Gaganjeet Bhullar had disappointing starts with both carding 5-over 76 each. They were T-94 and in danger of missing the cut.

Five-time PGA Tour winner Na came into this week feeling his game is in a good place and backed that up with a strong start. However, a missed six-footer for birdie on the last hole cost him outright second place.

Sweden's Henrik Stenson, one of the event's marquee players, came in with a 70.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)