Tata Open 2025: Khalin Joshi and Veer Ahlawat take opening day honours

Jamshedpur, Dec 25 (IANS) Khalin Joshi and Veer Ahlawat took the opening day honours at the Tata Open 2025, an INR 2 crore event and the Professional Golf Tour of India’s (PGTI) season-finale, being played at the Beldih and Golmuri golf courses in Jamshedpur, on Thursday.

In round one, one half of the field played its 18 holes at Beldih Golf Club while the other half of the field played its 18 holes at the Golmuri Golf Club. In round two, both halves of the field will switch venues.

Khalin and Veer shot scores of seven-under 63 at Golmuri to be the joint clubhouse leaders as round one could not be completed on Thursday. Bangladesh’s Md Siddikur Rahman struck a six-under 64 at Golmuri to be third in the clubhouse.

Ten players out of a total of 126 could not complete their first round on Thursday when play was suspended due to fading light. The 10 players will resume their rounds at 7 am on Friday.

Veer Ahlawat, a two-time winner this year and a winner in Jamshedpur at the Tata Steel Tour Championship last year, scored eight birdies in exchange for a bogey to make his way to the top on day one.

Veer said, “I’ve played well in Jamshedpur over the past few years, so I know the two courses well, and I know how to adapt to both courses. I struck it well off the tee today and made the most of my chances on the greens.

“I’ll now look to shoot a five or six under at Beldih in round two that could place me well at the halfway stage.”

Khalin Joshi also mixed eight birdies with a bogey to share the lead with Veer. Khalin said, “It’s important to adapt quickly to the greens this week. I did that well today and putted well within the five-foot range.”

The Tata Open 2025 offers a prize purse of INR 2 crore and constitutes the last leg of the 2025 PGTI season. The tournament, which has a field of 126 professionals, is being played in the stroke-play format consisting of four rounds of 18 holes each. The top 50 players and ties will make the cut after two rounds.

The Tata Open is one of those rare events in the world that is played across two venues. The format for the event is as follows: In round one, one half of the field will play its 18 holes at Beldih Golf Club while the other half of the field will play its 18 holes at the Golmuri Golf Club. In round two, both halves of the field will switch venues (those who played at Beldih in round one, play eighteen holes at Golmuri in round two, and vice versa).

In rounds three and four, after the cut has been applied, the leading groups will tee off from Golmuri and play their first nine holes at Golmuri before moving to Beldih to play their second nine holes.

–IANS

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