Ahmedabad, Jan 27 (IANS) India’s Ram Pal posted a four-under 68 to take the first-round lead at the final qualifying stage of the PGTI Qualifying School 2026 being played at the Kensville Golf & Country Club in Ahmedabad.
Six golfers were bunched in tied second place with scores of 70. This group included American Jhared Hack, along with Indians Dhruv Suri, Jujhar Singh, Joysurjo Dey, Manav Bais, and amateur Pritish Singh Karayat. Teenager Kartik Singh was tied eighth at 71 while Shubham Jaglan was a further shot back in tied 12th.
Forty-six-year-old Ram Pal, who belongs to Chandigarh, put together an eagle, four birdies, and two bogeys in his opening round effort. Ram Pal holed out from 90 yards for his eagle on the sixth hole. He sank a couple of birdie putts from a range of 15 to 25 feet and also left himself two short birdie putts as a result of his immaculate approach shots.
Ram Pal said, “I couldn’t play events last year due to an injury. However, I’ve fully recovered now, and my performance at the Pre-Qualifying event here at Kensville has given me a lot of confidence. I made a poor start at the Pre-Q but came back strong in round two with a solid 72 to make the cut for the Final Stage. Today, I felt that I planned my round really well. My driving and putting were also top-class. It’s a great start to the Final Stage, and I’ll look to capitalize on it.”
The top 80 players (+ ties) will make the cut after round two of the Final Qualifying Stage. At the end of round four, the top 47 players will earn their full cards for the 2026 PGTI season.
The Qualifying School, which marks the beginning of each PGTI season, is one of the most important events on the PGTI calendar as it is the only route for players to qualify to play on the PGTI in a particular season. The tournament determines the criteria for players for the whole season.
This year’s Qualifying School event started with over 450 golfers, and besides Indian participants, this year’s Qualifying School also features as many as 39 golfers from foreign countries.
A total of 77 players from the First Stage (Pre-Qualifying) will go through to the Final Stage. The qualifiers from the First Stage will join the exempt players in the Final Stage, which is scheduled to be held from January 27 – 30.
At the end of the Final Stage, the top qualifiers with a specific cut-off will earn their full cards for the 2026 PGTI season. The Final Stage offers a total prize purse of INR 10 lakh.
–IANS
hs/bsk/
