China’s Lin Yuxin celebrates topping the Asian Tour’s Qualifying School Final Stage at the Lake View Resort and Golf Club in Hua Hin on Sunday. Image courtesy Asian Tour.
By Rahul Banerji
Shaurya Bhattacharya completed the gruelling five-day Final Stage of the Asian Tour’s Qualifying School in second place at Hua Hin, Thailand, on Sunday.
The 22-year-old was joined by fellow Delhi golfers Rashid Khan and Shubham Jaglan, and Chandigarh’s Ajeetesh Sandhu as card holders on the continental tour for next year.
Leading after round four overnight, Bhattacharya dropped three late bogeys including one on the 18th hole at Lake View Resort and Golf Club to finish second amongst the 35 who earned their Tour cards on Sunday.
Pipping Bhattacharya at the post was China’s Lin Yuxin, a two-time Asia-Pacific Amateur champion, who finished on 16 under par after the testing five days to the Indian’s total of 15 under.
Lin, playing in the penultimate group, was tied with Bhattacharya playing the difficult par-four 18th and made made par while the Indian, playing in the last group, finished with a bogey.
Bhattacharya closed with a 72, while Canadian Henry Lee ended third, after shooting 70. Lee was two behind the winner, having made a double on the last, the Asian Tour said.
Mexico’s Roberto Lebrija (72) was fourth and Australian Will Florimo (70) fifth. The final round was played on the C&D course at Lake View.
Late stumble
Bhattacharya started the day leading by one and was in pole for much of the round but was undone by the bogeys on 12, 13, and 18.
It was still an outstanding week for the in-form 22-year-old who is currently third on the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) Order of Merit with two wins.
“It was a tough last day, but lot of positives. I made a lot of birdies (three, and an eagle), just that I made too many bogeys,” Bhattacharya (70-67-65-66-72) said later.
“But looking at the positives, I made I think 27 birdies this week, which is a good number, and, yeah, looking forward to the season next year.
“I play a tournament to win, that’s my goal. Even if it’s a Q-School, I want to win. So, it was stress free in the sense that the cut line wasn’t a factor, but I wanted to finish number one, just couldn’t finish it off.”
Overnight leader Shaurya Bhattacharya stumbled late during Round Five on Sunday to take second place at Hua Hin. Image courtesy Asian Tour.
Behind him, Rashid Khan — a two-time Asian Tour winner — with rounds of 70, 69, 73, 68 and 68 tied for 15th place on a 7 under tournament total.
Tough test
Ajeetesh Sandhu (72-70-69-71-67) shared 19th place on 6 under, while Shubham Jaglan came through a 12-man playoff for the eight remaining places to seal his card.
Lin’s victory was a milestone for the highly-rated 23-year-old. He won the Asia-Pacific Amateur in 2017 and 2019 and played college golf at the University of Florida.
He has been playing the PGA Tour Americas and some Korn Ferry Tour events since turning professional in 2023, with putting issues, mainly ‘mental’ he says, holding him back.
There were no such issues this week, as he shot rounds of 68, 67, 70, 67 and 67.
“It’s definitely a great feeling to get through Q School, it’s one of the toughest tournaments in golf for any professional, so just fortunate enough to get in this week,” said Lee, who made an eagle, three birdies and one bogey on Sunday.
“I’ve been hitting it good all season, just been having trouble with the putter, mainly throughout the summer.
“I did some work on it during October and November, so the game has been feeling good for a while.”
On the transition to the professional game, he said: “It’s been tough, it’s a lot of ups and downs and just trying to stay patient to be honest.
“I’ve learned a lot in the last few years after I turned pro, so it’s been a good learning experience.”
Big names
Other notables who made it through South Africa’s Justin Harding, Thailand’s Itthipat Buranatanyarat, Indonesian Naraajie Ramadhanputra, and Berry Henson from the US.
Chinese-Taipei’s Chan Shih-chang, Singapore’s Gregory Foo, Hong Kong’s Shunyat Hak and Malaysian Khavish Varadan also qualified.
Shergo Al Kurdi made an all-important 10-foot putt for par on the last to finish in a tie for 19th on six under. He missed the ensuing play-off by one to become the first player from Saudi Arabia to make it through Final Stage.
The battle for the 35th card proved to be gripping. Twelve players ended in a sudden-death play-off for the last eight cards, after they finished on 5 under in joint 28th.
Japan’s Tomohiro Ishizaka, who started the day in second but crashed to an 81 on Sunday, was one of those who survived the extra-holes.
He was joined by Carson Herron of the US, son of former PGA Tour star Tim Herron, Carlos Pigem from Spain, Welshman David Boote, Jin Zihao from China, Germany’s Marc Hammer, and Marcus Plunkett from Australia.
The play-off went to five holes with Jaglan the last to get in at the expense of Kelvin Si.
Also read: Bhattacharya leads field into Asian Tour Q School’s final round
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