SSP takes charge at DGC

New Delhi, march 17

SSP Chawrasia and Sanjay Kumar fired a superb five-under 67 to emerge as the best-placed Indian for a share of the fifth place after the opening round of the 52nd Indian golf tournament.

Chawrasia’s double bogey was the only blemish in an otherwise brilliant round that included seven birdies at the tricky Delhi Golf Club (DGC) course.

The 44-year-old Sanjay from Lucknow, who has seven titles in the domestic circuit and finished 31st on the PGTI’s Rolex Ranking last year, blasted eight birdies and three bogeys in the opening round.

In a roller-coaster round which saw him at even-par after 14 holes, defending champion Anirban Lahiri fired four birdies in the last four holes to end the day with a score of four-under 68, three strokes behind leader Daniel Im of USA, who sizzled with a flawless opening round on his debut at the DGC.

Thailand’s Prom Meesawat, Spaniards Jorge Campillo and Nacho Elvira fired a six-under 66 to trail Daniel by one shot at the $1.66 million event sanctioned by the Asian Tour and the European Tour.

Unheralded Honey Baisoya, a 19-year-old golfer from Delhi, who finished 21st on the PGTI’s Rolex Ranking last year, also brought home a 68 to grab a share of the fourth spot.

Among the other Indians, Rashid Khan and Rahil Gangjee scored a three-under 69 to lie one stroke further adrift. Vikrant Chopra also scored a matching 69. Former PGA Tour winner, Arjun Atwal (70), three-time Major champion Padraig Harrington (71) and six-time winner at the Asian Tour, Jeev Milkha Singh (72) were further down the leaderboard.

Chawrasia said: “It was a good start to the tournament. Now, it’s important to build on that for the next three days. Today my putting was good and I made some good recoveries. I also had a chip-in on the second hole from just over the green from 15-18 feet. My driving overall was decent except on the 16th when I pulled to the left and went into the bushes. I tried to chip out but couldn’t make the up and down from just 10-12 feet. If I had not had made a double bogey on the 16th (my seventh hole) it could have been really good but it’s still all right.

Showed some respect: Im

Im said, “There were a couple of times where I almost walked away with a bogey but I made the up-and-down. I’ve heard about this golf course so many times prior to this trip, so I came in with a bit of respect. I showed some respect and got some respect back.” Padraig Harrington, the three-time Major winner, shot 71 and said that he felt he deserved a better score.

Jeev Milkha Singh needed a birdie on the last to stay afloat at even par and Shiv Kapur landed an eagle to reach a similar par card. — Agencies

Leaderboard

n 65 — Daniel Im (USA)

n 66 — Prom Meesawat (Tha), Jorge Campillo (Esp), Nacho Elvira (Esp)

n 67 — Sanjay Kumar (Ind), Jeunghun Wang (Kor), SSP Chawrasia (Ind),

Terry Pilkadaris (Aus), Raphael Jacquelin (Fra).

n 68 — Honey Baisoya (Ind), Anirban Lahiri (Ind),

Alejandro Canizares (Esp), Gregory Havret (Fra),

Tommy Fleetwood (Eng), Wade Ormsby (Aus).

n 69 — Sebastien Gros (Fra), Thangaraja N (SL), David Lipsky (USA), Rahil Gangjee (Ind), Vikrant Chopra (Ind), Siddikur Rahman (Ban), Rashid Khan (Ind), Maximilian Kieffer (Ger).

n 70 — Shankar Das (Ind), Craig Lee (Sco), Thanyakon Khrongpha (Tha), Paul Peterson (USA), Romain Wattel (Fra), Chapchai Nirat (Tha), Miguel Tabuena (Phi), Chris Paisley (Eng), Ben Evans (Eng), Danny Chia (Mas), Arjun Aatwal (Ind), Julien Quesne (Fra), Pablo Larrazabal (Esp), Trevor Fisher Jnr (RSA), M Dharma (Ind), Angelo Que (Phi).