Chandigarh’s Ajeetesh Sandhu set the bar with an imposing nine-under 62 in the opening round of the Golconda Masters at the Hyderabad Golf Club on Thursday.
Chandigarh’s Ajeetesh Sandhu set the bar with an imposing nine-under 62 in the opening round of the Golconda Masters at the Hyderabad Golf Club on Thursday.
Abhijit Singh Chadha, another Chandigarh-based professional, ended the day in second place, two strokes behind the leader at seven-under-64 at the Rs 40 lakh event.
Sandhu came up with an error-free 62 to announce himself as a contender this week. The 28-year-old, a winner on the PGTI back in 2012, struck the ball to perfection as he capitalised on three of the four par-5s and also landed it within six feet of the pin on four occasions.
He left himself only two long putts on the opening day, both of which he sank for birdies on the 18th and fourth.
Sandhu had finished the 2015 PGTI season 16th in the Rolex Rankings courtesy two top-10s which included a tied second. He was last in contention during an event in Mumbai in December last year where he finally secured tied seventh place.
Anura Rohana, runner-up at last week’s PGTI event in Bengaluru, continued his hot streak with a quality round of six-under-65. The 42-year-old pro from Colombo nailed seven birdies at the expense of just one bogey to occupy third place.
Mandeo Singh Pathania of the Jaypee Greens Golf Resort, Greater Noida, had the distinction of firing two eagles, on the sixth and eighth (both par-5s), during his round of 66, that placed him tied fourth.
Pathania landed his approach two feet from the flag on the sixth before chipping-in on the eighth.
Defending champion Harendra Gupta of Chandigarh was off to a steady start with a three-under 68 to be tied 11th.
He made six straight birdies from the sixth to the 11th and narrowly missed a seventh consecutive birdie.
Hyderabad-based professional H. Sunil Kumar made a hole-in-one on the seventh at his home course. He ended the day in tied 105th with a round of six-over 77.
