Local golfer M. Dharma blasted a seven-under 65 to take the opening round lead at the PGTI Eagleburg Masters in Bengaluru on Tuesday.
Local golfer M. Dharma blasted a seven-under 65 to take the opening round lead at the PGTI Eagleburg Masters in Bengaluru on Tuesday.
Kolkata’s Shankar Das was on the leader’s tail with six-under 66. The local duo of S. Chikkarangappa and Khalin Joshi, and Delhi’s Honey Baisoya were bunched together at five-under 67 at the Eagleton course.
Dharma, a winner on the PGTI back in 2013, stamped his authority with an imposing display. Currently seventh in the Rolex Ranking, he had a productive front nine where he made four birdies and a bogey. A bogey on the 10th didn’t seem to unsettle the 30-year-old as he roared back with five straight birdies from the 11th to the 15th.
Dharma, who was joint runner-up in the opening event of the season, narrowly missed out on eagle opportunities on two occasions — the fourth and 15th holes — where his chip shots stopped just short of the hole.
Dharma attributed his solid effort to the hard yards he put in over the last three weeks at Eagleton with focus on his short-game.
“I was very good around the greens today.
“I made two brilliant par saves from the bunker. I believe the hard work that I have recently put into my short game is paying off now.
“Since my maiden win in 2013, my hitting has improved, but on the other hand, I just lost my short game.
“In order to sort out my game, my friend Chikkarangappa, who is also my roommate on the tour, convinced me to work on my weaknesses along with him. He gave me a lot of valuable inputs as both of us put in long hours of practice at Eagleton in the run-up to this event.”
