Patna, March 24 (IANS) Delhi’s Rohit Baisoya shot a top-notch seven-under 65 to take the Round One lead at the INR 25 lakh Alpha Sports Academy Golf Championship 2026 at the Patna Golf Club in Patna on Tuesday, the fourth event of the 2026 DP World PGTI NexGen season. Bipin Mukhiya and Manoviraj Shekhawat were tied second with scores of 68.

Vinay Kumar Yadav, the winner on the NexGen last week, made a hole-in-one on the first hole during his round of 72 to be placed tied ninth. Md Nawab was the highest-placed among the local professionals as he carded a 70 to be tied fourth.

The Patna Golf Club is a par-72 nine-hole course where the nine holes are played twice to comprise a round.

Baisoya made four birdies and two bogeys on the front nine. He followed that up with a splendid back-nine where he scored an eagle and three birdies. Rohit chipped in from the bunker for an eagle on the 13th and made two quality up and downs from the greenside bunkers for birdies on the 12th and 14th.

“I made all four Par-5s count by scoring an eagle and three birdies on them. I hit a lot of fairways, which is the key on this course. The stretch from the 12th to the 14th was special as I played three outstanding bunker shots there to get myself out of trouble and pick up an eagle and two birdies.”

The NexGen Tour was launched by the PGTI last year with the objective of providing equal playing opportunities to all professional golfers of India and to increase the bench strength in Indian golf, which in turn increases competition and the level of golf. The NexGen also aims to take professional golf to Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities in India, thus expanding the reach of the sport within the country.

The NexGen 2026 season got underway with the first event at the Aravalli Golf Club in Faridabad. Abhishek Kumar produced a tournament low score, a sublime bogey-free eight-under 64 in the third and final round, to register a sensational come-from-behind victory in the first leg, which featured 72 players.

The second event was the NexGen Phillaur Open 2026, which was played from March 3–5 at the Ranjitgarh Golf Club in Phillaur, and Lucknow-based Armyman Rajesh Kumar Gautam (70-67-70) edged out Pankaj Maandiya (68-70-69) and Aditya Raj Singh Chahal (69-69-69) in a playoff that went to three extra holes to win the title after the trio ended the regulation 54 holes with matching totals of six-under 207. The next NexGen event was played at Lucknow Golf Club from March 10–12.

The prize purse for each NexGen event has been increased from INR 20 lakh to INR 25 lakh this season.

–IANS

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