PTI
Scottsdale (US), December 7
India’s Jeev Milkha Singh carded a five-under 66 to lie tied second after the opening round of the PGA TOUR Champions Qualifying Tournament (Final Stage) at TPC Scottsdale here.
Singh, who turned 50 last December, finished solo third at First Stage in Nevada to advance to the final stage.
Another Indian, Jyoti Randhawa carded a one-over 72 for a share of 50th place. Arjun Atwal, the only Indian to have won on the PGA Tour, lies tied 66th after a round of three-over 74.
The top-five finishers after four rounds will earn their Champions cards.
“I shot 5-under today so I’m pretty happy with the round,” Singh said.
“Coming into this week, you just try to do your best. You play for five spots, and you have to be aggressive, smart aggressive, plus you have to keep yourself in contention, too. I’m happy with the position I’m in.”
In 1998, Singh became the first player from India to join the DP World Tour. He has won four times on the DP World Tour, six on the Asian Tour and four on the Japan Golf Tour. He also finished T9 at the 2008 PGA Championship.
Omar Uresti carded 7-under 64 to hold the first-round lead. Uresti, who has played in eight events on PGA TOUR Champions since 2019, added eight birdies in the first round to take a two-stroke lead heading into the second round.
Mark Walker – who has previously gotten starts on PGA TOUR Champions – ended his round with three birdies to position himself atop the leaderboard at T2 5-under.
This is Walker’s fourth appearance at Q-school; his best finish is T8 in 2019. Walker has successfully Monday qualified into 18 Champions Tour events over the past four years.
Alan McLean, Simon Griffiths, Kris Blanks and Ricardo Gonzalez are also T2 after each carding 5-under 66 on the par-71, 7,115 -yard layout.
At the end of four rounds, the top-5 finishers will be fully exempt into all open, full-field events for PGA TOUR Champions in the 2023 season.
In addition, players finishing sixth through 30th will be eligible to apply for PGA TOUR Champions Associate Membership for the 2023 season, which will afford them the opportunity to enter 2023 PGA TOUR Champions weekly event qualifiers.
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