How Akshay Sharma almost broke the record of all-time lowest winning score of -25 in a PGTI tournament?

Akshay Sharma started at -7 on day 1 and within three days, Sharma reached -19 in 54 holes and in the final round, Sharma scored 33 in first nine to move -22 and in the back nine, Sharma reached -25 after scoring a birdie on hole 16^th and now with just two holes remaining, Sharma got even par in the 17^th to stay at -25 and in the final hole Sharma got an unfortunate bogey which reduced his score to -24 and lost the chance of being the first player to get a winning total of -25 in a PGTI tournament but still Sharma got something home as he equaled the all-time lowest PGTI score of -24 in Players Championship presented by Panchkula Golf Club.


Round 4 Scorecard of Akshay Sharma.

How does PGTI Players Championship’s Max Play format works?

Golf action in India is finally resumed after a long time and Professional Golf Association of India’s first post-lockdown tournament is PGTI Players Championship presented by Panchkula Golf Club and usually PGTI have a stroke play format in their events but this time in the Players Championship there will be an updated version of stroke play and it’s called Max Play or Maximum Play.
 
What is Maximum Play?
Maximum Play is an improvised version of stroke play format in which players need to hole out on every hole and can pick up the ball after achieving a maximum score in that hole. This method speeds up the game of golf.
 
How does this format work?
Now, here the maximum score for each hole played is limited to a net double bogey – which is equal to Par of the hole + 2 strokes (double bogey) + any handicap strokes the player is entitled to receive on that hole based on their Course Handicap.
For example, a player with a Course Handicap of 12 is entitled to one additional stroke on holes allocated with stroke index 1 through 12 on the scorecard. On a par 4 hole, with a Stroke Index of 10, the player’s maximum score would be 4 (par) + 2 (double bogey) + 1 (stroke received) = 7.
[REFERENCE - USGA]
 

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Champions for a Cause - Charity Golf Match gets a nerve ending finish at Delhi Golf Club

Four athletes from two sports (Cricket and Golf) came together to play an 18-hole exhibition golf match at DGC with a noble cause of raising funds for the frontline warriors of COVID-19.

Four players were divided into two teams for a charity golf match. Team 1 consisted of Kapil Dev and Gaganjeet Bhullar and while Team 2 had Murali Kartik and Shubhankar Sharma.
Now, team one led from start after both players of team two got bogey in the first hole for +1 while, team one was the opening leader by scoring an even-par and after the end of first nine, team two were leading by one stroke at -2 and team 2 was behind at -1. And the best score of the first nine was Sharma’s 36.

Both teams started back nine with a birdie, Sharma scored a birdie for his team and team one’s Bhullar missed the birdie and got an even-par so, his teammate Dev took the charge by scoring his first birdie of the tournament. For the next two holes, both teams were unable to achieve an under-par score as team 1 remained at -2 and team 2 at -3. In hole 13, team two missed the birdie and team one took the advantage as both Dev and Bhullar got birdies to move -3 and make it all square. In the fifth hole of back nine, team 1 came back to the lead after team one’s Bhullar got a birdie in par-5 14^th. Scores remained unchanged in hole 15 because both teams got even-par scores.
Now, team two’s Kartik and Sharma were really struggling to get a single birdie in second nine and finally after six holes, team two got their second birdie of back nine through Kartik in hole 16 and this again tied the score at -4.
 
Last two-hole drama:
As we move towards the end, team two’s Kartik provided a great start by getting a birdie on hole 17^th to move -5 and have a one-stroke lead over team one’s Dev and Bhullar. It was now or never for team 1 and boy they delivered as both Dev and Bhullar got birdies on par-5 18^th to tie the score at -5 and now, the improbable happened, as both players of team 2, missed birdies in the last hole, where Sharma and Kartik got an even-par and bogey respectively.

The amazing pair of Kapil Dev and Gaganjeet Bhullar fought till the end and saved the match for a worthy draw. The legendary Kapil Dev was so focused in his last nine that, he not only got three birdies in it but also improved from his first nine score of 39 to back nine’s 37.
On the other side, team 2 had an exceptional start where they got an outright lead of one stroke in the first nine but in the second nine, fans didn’t saw the same intensity between Murali Kartik and Shubhankar Sharma and the pair had to settle for a draw.

The Champions for a Cause – Charity Golf Match was played on 11^th July at Delhi Golf Club.
[COVER PHOTO CREDIT: RN SPORTS MARKETING]

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