Colombo, 16-04-2013
Rashid Khan grabs first round lead at Sri Lanka Ports Authority Open 2013
The Sri Lanka Ports Authority Open 2013 got underway today at The Royal Colombo Golf Club. Over 100 professional golfers, all looking for a share of the prize purse of USD 70,000 teed off along with six amateur golfers from Sri Lanka.
Indian professional Rashid Khan finished day one on top of the leaderboard. The Delhi boy, who won the PGTI event at the Classic Golf Resort in the outskirts of Delhi last week, seems to have carried his good form to Colombo.
Rashid started the tournament with five birdies in a row from the 10th through the 14th. He sank another birdie on 16th but bogeyed the 17th to be five-under at the turn. Rashid dropped a shot on the fourth but birdied the sixth and seventh to finish his round with a score of six-under-65.
“The greens on this course are not easy to negotiate. One needs to adjust to the green speed quickly in order to perform well here. I’m feeling good and lucky to have this kind of start. My putting was good and having pocketed five birdies at the turn was a great advantage,” said the 22-year-old Rashid.
Divyanshu Bajaj of Kolkata trails Rashid by one stroke. Divyanshu, playing for the first time at Royal Colombo Golf Club, started his round with a bogey on the first but recovered immediately thanks to a birdie on the second. He went on to record an eagle on the sixth and three more birdies to end the day at five-under-66.
“Playing at this golf course for the first time and not having a practice round was difficult, but I walked few holes yesterday and got a feel of the course. The main idea was to keep the ball on the fairways and I was lucky to do so. Greens were playing a little slow due to the heavy rain yesterday and one had to take that into account today,” said Bajaj.
Angad Cheema of Panchkula and Bangalore’s M Dharma were tied for third place at four-under-67. While Dharma had seven birdies and three bogeys in his first round, Cheema made six birdies against two bogeys.
Local hero and winner of the first ever professional golf tournament in Sri Lanka last year, Mithun Perera finished his round at two-under-69. “Due to heavy rain yesterday, the conditions have changed a lot and adjusting with the current playing conditions after playing in India and in different parts of Asia is not easy,” said Mithun.
The tournament continues tomorrow with the second round being played. At the end of round two, the field will be reduced to the top 50 players and ties, who will then play rounds three and four on Thursday and Friday respectively.
About PGTI:
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.
For information on PGTI, please contact:
Nikhil Kalaan
Media Manager - PGTI
Mobile: 9910974846
Email: media@pgtofindia.com
