Sri Lanka’s K. Prabagaran got off to a splendid start with an eight-under-62 to top the table on the first day in the Golconda Masters golf championship at the Quli Qutub Shahi Tombs course here on Thursday.
Anura Rohana, also from Sri Lanka, was joint-second with Delhi’s Shamim Khan at seven-under-63 in the biggest golfing event ever here.
Chikkarangappa of Bangalore and Kolkata’s Shankar Das, the reigning Rolex Rankings champion, were tied 12th at two-under-68.
The 34-year-old Prabagaran, winner of the PGTI last year, began with an early birdie on the 11th when he wriggled out of a crisis of sorts thanks to a good chip-putt followed with a bogey on the 13th as he three-putted. He picked up the pace holing putts from six to seven feet for birdies on the 14th, 15th and 18th.
Soon, the Sri Lankan raised the standard of the golf to have consecutive eagles on the fifth and sixth. He drove the green on both the par-4 holes before converting the putts from 20 feet and three feet respectively. Prabagaran capped a memorable day with another birdie on the eighth with a chip-putt from over the green.
“It was an outstanding round. My driving and approach shots were brilliant. I also got myself out of trouble on a couple of occasions after hitting it over the green.
“It’s the first time I’ve made two consecutive eagles. This round has really lifted my confidence for the rest of the week,” said Prabagaran.
“One needs to be very accurate on certain stretches of this course which are narrow. The fourth in particular is a very challenging hole. There are times when you can’t see the fairways from the tees so judging the distance well is the key here.
“I had a good 2014 season on the PGTI which has done wonders to my confidence. I want to perform a few notches higher this year,” he added.
Shamim Khan too enjoyed his outing in round one sinking a 20-footer for eagle on the sixth and chipped-in for a birdie on the 11th. He also landed it within three feet on three occasions to set up tap-in birdies.
Anura Rohana joined Khan in tied second as he came up with an eagle, seven birdies and two bogeys.
The scores: First round: 1. K. Prabagaran 62, 2. Shamim Khan 63, 3. Anura Rohana 63, 4. Ashbeer Saini 65, 5. Karan Taunk 65, 6. Ranjit Singh 66, 7. Harendra Gupta 67, 8. Sandeep Syal 67, 9. Ashok Kumar 67, 10. Vinod Kumar 67.
