Bangkok: India’s Sujjan Singh, a former winner on the Asian Development Tour (ADT), finished tied 13th at the 2017 Asian Tour Qualifying School’s Final Stage to earn his Tour card and make a return to the continental tour after a three-year gap.
The 36-year-old Sujjan (68-66-70-66) posted a sizzling six-under-66 in the final round of the Final Stage at the Suvarnabhumi Golf & Country Club in Bangkok on Saturday and thus rose 10 places from his overnight tied 23rd as his total score read 18-under-270.
While Sujjan was the lone Indian professional to earn his Asian Tour card at this year’s Qualifying School, seventeen-year-old amateur Arjun Prasad (66-67-69-68) was the other Indian to earn full playing rights as he too closed the week in tied 13th place at 18-under-270.
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Arjun’s final round four-under-68 helped him hold on to his overnight tied 13th place.
The event was won by Australian Richard Green after he defeated compatriot Todd Sinnott in a playoff. Green and Sinnott had earlier ended the regulation 72 holes with identical scores of 28-under-260.
Sujjan Singh, who first earned his Asian Tour card in 2011, was a regular on the tour for three years up to 2013. It is a welcome return to the tour for the Chandigarh lad who lost his card in 2013.
Sujjan said, “It took me a few years for me to build up to this. I had a wrist injury a few years ago and my game just wasn’t there and I lost my card. I took a year off to work hard on my game and I felt I was ready for Q School this time around. I changed quite a few things and my approach toward the game.
“It’s a brand new game that I brought with me this week and I guess it’s working. It has taken a few years for me to get back to where I am. I suffered that injury in 2012 and I tried to come back and play a little too early. That injury kept recurring and that obviously affected my form. But all that is behind me and I’m looking forward to 2017.”
The Indians who did not finish among the top-35 players and ties and thus missed their card, were Abhijit Singh Chadha and Ashok Kumar (both tied 44th at 12-under-276), Ajeetesh Sandhu (tied 53rd at 11-under-277), Manu Gandas (tied 66th at 10-under-278), Udayan Mane (tied 82nd at eight-under-280), Aman Raj (tied 99th at six-under-282) and M Dharma (tied 107th at four-under-284).
