Veer Ahlawat fires record-breaking 61 to charge into lead at Swiss Challenge

Lucerne: Veer Ahlawat produced one of the finest rounds of his professional career, smashing the course record with a brilliant 10-under 61 to vault into a share of the halfway lead at the Swiss Challenge on the Hotel Planner Tour at Lucerne in Switzerland.

The Indian golfer, competing on an invitation this week, delivered a flawless bogey-free performance at Golf Sempach to join England's Matthew Southgate at the top of the leaderboard on 12-under-par. The pair will take a one-shot advantage into the weekend over George Bloor and France's Mathieu Decottignies-Lafon.

Ahlawat's spectacular round underlined the quality that saw him emerge as one of India's leading players over the last two seasons. The 30-year-old enjoyed a breakthrough year in 2024 when he finished runner-up at the Hero Indian Open and later captured the DP World PGTI Order of Merit title. After spending the 2025 season splitting his schedule between the DP World Tour, Hotel Planner Tour, and the Indian circuit, Ahlawat arrived in Switzerland searching for momentum. He found it in emphatic fashion on Friday.

Starting on the front nine, Ahlawat wasted little time in moving up the leaderboard. He opened with a birdie on the second hole before adding consecutive gains on the third and fourth. Another birdie at the seventh helped him reach the turn in 4-under par and set the stage for an extraordinary finish. IANS

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