Delhi, 01-12-2016
SEASONED INDIAN DUO OF JYOTI RANDHAWA AND MUKESH KUMAR SHARE CLUBHOUSE LEAD ON OPENING DAY OF PANASONIC OPEN INDIA
The seasoned Indian duo of Jyoti Randhawa and Mukesh Kumar shot rounds of five-under-67 to grab the joint clubhouse lead at the Panasonic Open India’s weather-disrupted opening day on Thursday.
The joint leaders were three strokes ahead of the rest at the US$400,000 Asian Tour event after the opening round was delayed by thick fog for four hours in the morning and later abandoned for the day at 5.26pm local time due to fading light.
Thailand’s Sutijet Kooratanapisan signed for a 70 to sit in third place alongside a host of players, who will be amongst the 60 players set to return to the venerable Delhi Golf Club at 7am on Friday morning to complete their opening rounds.
Defending champion Chiragh Kumar of India returned with 71 to stay four shots off the pace.
Jyoti Randhawa, Asia’s number one in 2002, continued his recent run of fine form for a solid start at the Delhi Golf Club, a venue where he had won four Asian Tour titles previously.
After a solitary birdie on the front-nine, Randhawa sank two birdies against a bogey before draining three straight birdies from 16 for a back-nine 32.
“I missed some events at the start of the year due to an injury but I’m now back to full fitness and looking forward to a top finish here at my favourite course, the DGC. I’m always confident coming to the DGC as I’ve won four international events here. I’ve got some good tournament practice heading into this week. The tied fourth finish in Manila three weeks back was quite a morale-booster.,” said the 44-year-old.
“The fog delay helped me get some good sleep in the morning. My hitting was decent today however not as good as I would’ve liked. It was great to end the day with three straight birdies. The highlight of my round was the birdie on the 16th. I hit a beautiful low 4-iron approach shot there which was followed by a 30-feet conversion. I also chipped-in on 17 before sinking a two-footer birdie putt on the last,” added the winner of nine international titles.
Mukesh Kumar, a winner of over 120 professional titles on the Indian domestic circuit, took advantage of his course knowledge for his fine start.
“I was hitting it close on the back-nine and on the front-nine I managed to sink three long putts from 10 to 15 feet. I also made a good recovery from the bushes on the sixth where I drained a 15-footer for bogey,” said the 51-year-old Indian, who is eager to add an Asian Tour title to his already impressive trophy cabinet.
“I believe my judgement on this course, having played here for so many years. My course knowledge worked to my advantage today. I won an event here over a decade back. The course is definitely playing longer than usual this time but you had to adapt accordingly,” added the man from Mhow, Madhya Pradesh.
He further added, “My tournament win on the PGTI in October has boosted my confidence and my ball-striking has been terrific since then. It’s now all about raising my game on the greens. I’m lacking in confidence as far as my putting is concerned, especially the right to left putts, and that’s one area that I’ll be looking to improve upon.”
Title-holder Chiragh endured a frustrating day in the office but took pride in his battling performance where he sank three birdies against two bogeys.
“It was a frustrating day. I wasn’t hitting the ball particularly well but having said that, I am happy to return with a 71. I managed to grind it out so it is not too bad a score. The course is playing tough. It’s tough to make putts out there,” said the 32-year-old.
“I want to have a good night rest tonight. We will see how it goes tomorrow. It’s going to be another long day again. Hopefully I can make more putts,” Chiragh added.
The other Indians who posted scores of 71 on the first day were Sanjeev Kumar, Chikkarangappa, M Dharma, Shankar Das, Vikrant Chopra, Manav Jaini and Gaurav Pratap Singh.
Jeev Milkha Singh scrambled through the day to shoot a 75 while Shiv Kapur was further down the leaderboard having posted an 80.
Scores after round 1 of the Panasonic Open India 2016 being played at the par 72, 6935 Yards Delhi GC course (am - denotes amateur):
67 - Jyoti RANDHAWA (IND), Mukesh KUMAR (IND).
70 - Sutijet KOORATANAPISAN (THA).
71 - Sanjeev KUMAR (IND), Chiragh KUMAR (IND), Brett MUNSON (USA), Chikkarangappa S. (IND), M DHARMA (IND), Shankar DAS (IND), Vikrant CHOPRA (IND), Manav JAINI (IND), Gaurav Pratap SINGH (IND).
72 - Abhishek JHA (IND), CHAN Yih-shin (TPE), Abhinav LOHAN (IND), Zamal Hossain MOLLAH (BAN), Simon YATES (SCO), Arie IRAWAN (MAS), Mardan MAMAT (SIN), Om Prakash CHOUHAN (IND), Rahul BAJAJ (IND), Sung LEE (KOR).
73 - Nicolas PAEZ (USA), Rory HIE (INA), Pariya JUNHASAVASDIKUL (THA), Unho PARK (AUS), LEE Chieh-po (TPE), Pawan KUMAR (IND), Aman RAJ (IND), Deepinder Singh KULLAR (IND).
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Formed in 2006, Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) is the recognised official body of professional golf in India. PGTI's objective is to promote professional golf in the country, as well as to give players an opportunity to be involved in the decision making on all aspects of the game. Headed by Mr. Kapil Dev (President), PGTI's governing body comprises leading Indian golf professionals. PGTI currently has over 300 members.
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