Sujjan, Chadha steal spotlight

Sujjan Singh in action at the KGA on Wednesday. (Photo: R. Sameel)

The opening day of the inaugural Take Open Championship sprang a few surprises as the Chandigarh duo of Sujjan Singh and Abhijit Singh Chadha put up a scorching display to take the lead at the Karnataka Golf Association on Wednesday.

Sujjan and Chadha upset the applecart as they turned out identical cards of 6-under-66 to take a one-shot lead on a sunny Wednesday afternoon. Just a stroke behind are Honey Baisoya and Gaurav Pratap Singh with scores of 5-under-67. A further two shots behind are a cluster of four including Rahil Gangjee, Shubhankar Sharma, Angad Cheema and Amardeep Singh Malik at tied-fifth with cards of four-under-68.

Home boy Chikka at T9 Fancied S. Chikkarangappa, who has been in fine form, got off to a slow start as he turned in a card of three-under-69 to be placed tied-ninth along with nine others, including seasoned pros Jyoti Randhawa and Mithun Perera.

Chadha who was tied with state-mate Sujjan had the best outing on the course as he turned in a blemish-free card studded with six birdies. The Chandigarh golfer saved five more shots on the 5th, 6th, 11th, 14th and 15th holes, where he nailed a 25-footer, his longest putt of the day.

Chadha who was content with his opening round said, “I was stroking it well on the greens today. I’ve had a couple of top-10s this year but with my striking and putting coming together, I feel I can really make this week count.”

Meanwhile, Sujjan got off to the perfect start with a birdie on the first and also a 15-foot eagle conversion on the first hole of the back nine. In all, the pro saved six shots with birdies in the 10th, 12th, 18th, 2nd, 4th and 8th before dropping two shots on the 6th and the 11th.

Sujjan coming off a a fourth-place finish in the previous tournament said there was still a lot of golf left to be played. “It’s just the first day and the game could have gone in any direction. There is still a lot of golf left to play. It’s a challenging course and you have to keep at it and hit well,” said the 36-year-old.

It was not a favourable day for Chikka, as he started off with bogeys in the front nine. The local pro missed shots on the 14th and 17th, with his only saved shot coming on the 16th. The back nine saw the Bengalurean turn the game around a bit as he saved four shots to end the day with an under-par round.