BENGALURU: The first round of the TAKE Open Golf Championship saw the Karnataka Golf Association course make for a great day of action. Though there were high hopes on local hero Chikkarangappa S, Chandigarh players Sujjan Singh and Abhijit Singh Chadha emerged joint leaders.
They were tied at six-under 66, one stroke ahead of Gaurav Pratap Singh (Noida) and Honey Baisoya (Delhi). With the course turning out to be good for scoring, competition appeared to be stiff as Rahil Gangjee, Amardip Sinh Malik, Shubhankar Sharma and Angad Cheema finished tied fifth with tallies of four-under 68. Chikkarangappa and Jyoti Randhawa shared the ninth spot with nine others.
Mukesh Kumar, winner in the Chennai event last week, did not have the best of days as birdies on the first, eighth, 13th and 17th holes were offset by bogeys on the sixth and seventh holes. A double bogey on the 16th and a triple on the par-five 18th left him at three-over and in danger of missing the cut.
Sujjan, who has three PGTI titles under his belt, had built up and maintained the tempo right from the start. With some long conversions, he came up with birdies on the second, fourth, eighth, 10th, 12th and 18th holes. The added incentive was an eagle on the first. The blemishes of the day came on the sixth and 11th holes.
“I drove well today. I hit accurate shots off the tee and the greens are playing true,” said Sujjan. “It was a roller coaster day but it is the first day. I am hitting better. I have not played very much of late and am working on my swing. A few things have changed and in the right direction,” he added.
The 25-year-old Chadha sank birdies on the first, fifth, sixth, 11th, 14th and 15th holes and played a bogey-free round that helped him share the spoils of the first day. “I was getting the strokes well on the greens. I’ve had a couple of top-10 finishes this year. My striking and putting are coming along well and I think I can do well this week.”
Order of Merit leader Ajeetesh Sandhu’s day could have gone better as he carded a one-over 73.
Leading scores: -6 Sujjan Singh, Abhijit Singh Chadha; -5 Honey Baisoya, Gaurav Pratap Singh; -4 Rahil Gangjee, Amardip Singh Malik, Shubhankar Sharma, Angad Cheema.
vivekphadnis@newindianexpress.com