Pebble Beach (USA), Feb 3 (IANS) Indian American Sahith Theegala rose to the tenth spot at the halfway mark of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am golf tournament. Theegala, runner-up at the season-opening Sentry, made up for his first round 70 and is now 5-under for 36 holes with rounds of 70-67.

Korea’s Si Woo Kim, who was fourth after the first round, dropped to tied-10th as his putter went cold.

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler (64), Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg (65), and Belgium’s Thomas Detry (70), who all played at par-71 Pebble Beach Golf Links, share the 36-hole lead on 11-under. The final two rounds will be played at Pebbles Beach.

Scheffler, who had a 69, had a super round on his way to an 8-under 64 at Pebble Beach Golf Links, the low round of the week.

Aberg began his round by making putts of 40, 35 and 30 feet on the opening four holes. That carried the Swede to a 65. Scheffler and Aberg were joined by Thomas Detry, who lost a few shots coming in at Pebble Beach for a 70.

The 25-year-old Kim, seeking his fifth PGA Tour title, ground out a 1-under 71 at Spyglass Hills Golf Course as he stayed on the leaders’ coattails in the second Signature event of the 2024 PGA TOUR Season.

Kim was frustrated with his flatstick as he took 32 putts, six more than his opening round.

The iconic PGA TOUR tournament, AT&T Pebble Beach involves the participation of the amateurs over the first two rounds.

Another Korean star, Tom Kim, hauled himself back into contention after carding a bogey-free 67, with four of his five birdies coming on the back nine at Spyglass Hills Golf Course. He jumped 21 spots to tied 18th on 6-under 138.

Kevin Yu of Chinese Taipei signed for a 68 at Spyglass Hills to sit on T34 on 140 alongside Korean S.H. Kim, who carded a successive 70 at Pebble Beach.

Patrick Cantlay was poised to join the leaders except for missing a 10-foot birdie putt on the 17th at Pebble Beach, and then hitting his tee shot on the 18th onto the rocks, forcing him to scramble for a hard-earned par and a 70. He was one shot behind.

Justin Thomas despite a poor day on the green was two shots behind as a storm, rain and wind are expected over the weekend.

Nick Dunlap, the reigning U.S. Amateur champion, who turned pro after he won The American Express two weeks ago, continued to have a rough time. He shot 74 at Spyglass Hill and was at the bottom of the leaderboard.

Pattaya, Feb 3 (IANS) Avani Prashanth produced a solid 3-under 69 in the second round of the Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific Golf Championships to be in tied fifth, one spot lower than the fourth place she held after Day 1.

The Bengaluru golfer had three birdies in the first six holes but managed only one after that. She also had a bogey. She is now 7-under for two rounds and Tied fifth.

Avani is five shots behind the leader, Taiwan’s Chun-Wei Wu. Starting from the tenth tee, she was in top form on her second nine. Wu shot 7-under 65 to take her total to 12-under. Leader Wu birdied five times in her second nine at the Siam Country Club. Wu, who also had birdies in her first two holes, the 10th and the 11th.

Wu had. a two-shot lead over Japan’s Minano Muguruma (66) and shared with Korea’s Lee Hyosong (66) and Thailand’s Pimpisa Rubrong (68) at 8-under. Avani was tied for fifth with China’s Yahui Zhang (69).

The only other Indian to make the cut was debutant Saanvi Somu (72) who played superbly to hang on for the weekend at this iconic event.

Those missing the cut were Vidhatri Urs, (73-77), Mannat Brar (82-75), Heena Kang (81-79) and Keerthana Rajeev Nair (81-79).

Avani was happy with her putting and said, “I think the main thing I did well was that I putted really, really well today. Started off average with pulling my tee wood on first and then leaving my approach short, and then had a good 10-footer for par. Made that, and I think that put me into a good roll.

“I birdied 3rd, 4th, and 6th and I was really happy with that. Made a little bit of an error on 9 hitting the hazard and saved bogey there. Putter dried up a little bit on the back nine but then made one birdie and I am glad I finished 3-under. I’m sitting in a good position.”

The top 50 and ties will now play the final two rounds with the winner getting a spot in three of the five Majors for women.

The winner will get invitations to play in the 121st Women’s Amateur Championship, the 2024, Augusta National Women’s Amateur Championship, the Hana Financial Group Championship and the Women’s Australian Open.

Pattaya, Feb 2 (IANS) India’s top amateur star Avani Prashanth got off to a good start with a 4-under 68 that put her in tied fourth place after the first round of the 2024 Women’s Amateur Asia Pacific.

She is one shot behind three players, Thai duo of defending champion Eila Galitsky, her teammate Novaporn Soontreeyapas, who had a hole-in-one and Taiwan’s Chen-Wei Wu. They shot 5-under 67 each.

India is fielding a six-member team. While Avani was the leading Indian, two others, who came close to even par score were Vidhatri Urs and Saanvi Somu, who shot 1-over 73 each. They were Tied 39th.

The other scores were disappointing. Keerthana Rajeev Nair (81) and Heena Kang (81) were T-84 and Mannat Brar (82) was 86th.

Avani was tied for fourth place with Thailand’s Pimpisa Rubrong, Amy Im of New Zealand and China’s Yahui Xhang. They all shot 68 each.

Avani, the winner of the Queen Sirikit Cup individuals last year, started from the back nine with a bogey on Par-5 10th hole but later made a good recovery. She had six birdies and two bogeys in her round at the challenging Siam Country Club in Pattaya, Thailand. Avani birdied three times between the 13th and the 16th.

Avani was happy with her round and said: “I definitely am. The way I started, I was quite confused about how the day was going to go. But then, you know, I took control of my full round by the time I was on the 13th, and that really put things in place. I’m so glad it turned out how it did.

“I put myself in good positions from there on and I set myself up for a birdie on nearly every hole from there. The ones that dropped, dropped, and the ones that didn’t, I’ll probably get them tomorrow.”

La Jolla (USA), Jan 28 (IANS) Indian American golfer Akshay Bhatia logged his third Top-15 finish in four starts as he finished T-13 in the Farmers Insurance Open. He shot 2-under 70 to be 8-under for the week-a-week after missing the cut at the American Express Championship. He was T-13 at The Sentry and T-14 at the Sony Open.

Frenchman Matthieu Pavon made an 8-foot putt for a dramatic birdie on No.18 at Torrey Pines South for a one-shot victory in the Farmers Insurance Open on Saturday.

Pavon raised his arms in celebration and shouted before hugging his caddie after the putt rolled in as dusk began falling at the municipal course high above the Pacific Ocean. His only birdie on the back nine saved him from a playoff.

His final-round 3-under 69 put him at 13-under, one stroke better than Nicolai Hojgaard. Pavon was two shots ahead of Stephan Jaeger, who led after the second and third rounds, and Nicolai Hojgaard and Nate Lashley.

Pavon, who was born in Toulouse, France, was playing in just his 11th PGA TOUR event. He has one victory on the DP World Tour and earned his PGA Tour card through the Race to Dubai PGA Tour Eligibility Rankings.

Aaron Rai was T-33 and Sahith Theegala who was second at the Sentry was T64 this week.

Jamshedpur, Jan 25 (IANS) Zubin Nijhawan of Panchkula shot a six-under 65 to take the clubhouse lead on Day One of the Pre-Qualifying I of the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) Qualifying School 2024 being played at the Golmuri Golf Course here on Thursday.

Nijhawan produced four birdies on the front nine including three on the trot before adding two more on the back nine as his card did not have a single blemish. The quartet of Akram Ali Mollah, Yash Majmudar, Gurbaaz Mann and SK Mohin were tied for second place with scores of 66.

Amateur Rohit Boken was placed sixth at 67.

In all 13 players out of the total field of 122 could not complete their rounds on Thursday due to fading light. These players will resume their rounds on Friday morning.

Out of a total field of 122, the top 22 players (+ ties) will qualify from Pre-Qualifying I, a 36-hole event, for the Final Qualifying Stage. There are three Pre-Qualifying events in total.