US-based Varun Chopra fired a superb 10-under 62 to establish a commanding five-shot lead in Round One of Pre Qualifying III at the TATA Steel PGTI Qualifying School 2023 at the Golmuri Golf Course in Jamshedpur.
Chopra’s phenomenal round featured two eagles, seven birdies and a bogey. Varun, who hails from St Simons Island, Georgia and graduated from university last year before turning pro in May 2022, landed most of his shots within a range of six to 10 feet of the flag on Friday. The young golfer with family ties in India and playing rights on the Canadian Tour also sank 25-feet eagle putts on the par-4 fourth and par-5 ninth, driving the green on the former.
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“I took advantage of the good shots. The six-under on the front-nine really took the pressure off me as I knew that starting well in a 36-hole event is half the job done. I drew confidence from the fact that I did well at the only previous PGTI event I played while still an amateur back in 2021. I finished tied 26th at the Jeev Milkha Singh Invitational in Chandigarh that year,” said Chopra.
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Ashish Kumar Gupta and Jay Pandya were in tied second place with scores of 67.
Daksh Shokeen, Minwoo Park of Canada and amateur Aryaman Aditya Mohan Lal were placed tied fourth at 68.
Out of a total field of 110, the top 23 players (+ ties) will qualify from Pre Qualifying III, a 36-hole event, for the Final Qualifying Stage. This is the last of the three Pre Qualifying events.
