Ajeetesh Sandhu
Ajeetesh Sandhu (born 9 October 1988) is an Indian professional golfer who currently plays on the Asian Tour, European Tour and Japan Golf Tour.
Early life[edit]
Sandhu learned to play golf at a very young age. He was only four when he started his journey as a golfer at Chandigarh Golf Club. It did not take him long to ace the sport and in 2003, he was honored with the Presidents Child Award for Exceptional Achievements in Sports.
In 2005 he was ranked No.1 Junior as well as Amateur golfer in India.
Professional career[edit]
Sandhu joined the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) in 2008. He picked up his first profession victory on the PGTI Tour in 2012 at the DLF Masters in a playoff against Jyoti Randhawa at the DLF Golf & Country Club in Gurugram, the current home of the prestigious Hero Indian Open and Hero Women's Indian Open. His next win came to him 2016 in the form of Golconda Masters, which he repeated in 2017 too.
European Tour debut and career[edit]
Sandhu played the Avantha Masters (tri-sanctioned by the Asian, European and PGTI Tour) in 2013, making his European Tour debut, where he finished T-67th. Later in 2014 and 2015 Sandhu kept his schedule short by playing in 3 and 6 events only in the respective years, before returning to play the Hero Indian Open on the European Tour in 2016 and finishing T-23rd. The event also marked his only appearance in a professional tournament for 2016. Following his 2016 season Sandhu played mainly on the Asian Tour and two European Tour co-sanctioned events in 2017, viz., AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open (missed cut) and Hero Indian Open (T-55th).
In 2018 Sandhu went on to play 25 events, the maximum in his career 14 of them being European Tour sanctioned/co-sanctioned, where his best result of T-28th came at the 2018 AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open.
In 2019, Sandhu played in four European Tour co-sanctioned events, viz., Hero Indian Open, Volvo China Open, Maybank Championship and ISPS Handa World Super-6 Perth.
Asian Tour win[edit]
In 2017, Sandhu earned his maiden Asian Tour title at the US$500,000 Yeangder Tournament Players Championship (TPC) after firing a 2-under 70 in the final round on November 8. The then 28-year-old sunk three birdies against a lone bogey to return with a winning total of 12-under 276 to defeat USA's Johannes Veerman (71) by one-shot at the Linkou International Golf and Country Club.
Japan Challenge Tour win[edit]
The following week of his maiden Asian Tour triumph, Sandhu clinched the Taiheiyo Club Challenge on the Japan Challenge Tour, in a playoff against Japan’s Konosuke Nakasato. Sandhu won the first play-off hole to win Rs 10 lakh; approximately (1,800,000 yen).
Sandhu broke into the top 200 in the Official World Golf Ranking for the first time in Jan 2018 after the 2017 season, where he clinched three titles, one each on the PGTI Tour, Asian Tour & Japan Challenge Tour.
Fourth PGTI title[edit]
In October 2019, Sandhu won his sixth professional title (fourth PGTI title) at the Jeev Milkha Singh Invitational in a four-hole playoff against PGTI’s Money Leader Rashid Khan. Soon after his triumph, Ajeetesh Sandhu flew to Japan to play in the Qualifying Stage –III of Japan Golf Tour to finish T-10th and earn a spot in the final stage. Sandhu went on to play the Japan Q-School’s Final Stage in December, where he finished T-75th after six rounds of play to earn a conditional status.
Professional wins[edit]
| No | Date | Tournament | Winning Score | To Par | Margin of Victory | Runner(s)-Up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 November 2012 | DLF Masters | 70-66-70-76=282 | -6 | Playoff | Jyoti Randhawa |
| 2 | 28 February 2016 | Golconda Masters | 62-68-66-65=261 | -23 | 4 strokes | Shubhankar Sharma |
| 3 | 19 February 2017 | Golconda Masters | 70-67-73-63=273 | -11 | Playoff | Khalin H Joshi |
| 4 | 20 October 2019 | Jeev Milkha Singh Invitational | 66-69-67-66=268 | -20 | Playoff | Rashid Khan |
| No | Date | Tournament | Winning Score | To Par | Margin of Victory | Runner(s)-Up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9 October 2017 | Yeangder Tournament Players Championship | 69-69-68-70=276 | -11 | 1 stroke | Johannes Veerman |
| No | Date | Tournament | Margin of Victory | Runner(s)-Up |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 13 October 2017 | Taiheiyo Club Challenge | Playoff | Konosuke Kakazato |
References[edit]
- DLF Masters 2012 Times of India, Nov 4, 2012
- Golconda Masters 2016 PGTI Website, Nov 28, 2016
- Golconda Masters 2017 Indian Express, Feb 20, 2017
- Yeangder TPC 2017 GolfNews, Oct 8, 2017
- Taiheiyo Club Challenge 2017 Hindustan Times, Oct 13, 2017
- Jeev Milkha Singh 2019 Sportstar, The Hindu, Oct 20, 2019
External links[edit]
- Official Website
- Ajeetesh Sandhu at the Asian Tour Official website
- Ajeetesh Sandhu on the European Tour Official website
Ajeetesh Sandhu[edit]
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