By Rahul Banerji
Akshay Sharma and Karan Pratap Singh fired 4-under 68s to share the lead in round one of the J&K Open at the Jammu Tawi Golf Course on Wednesday.
Delhi’s Saarthak Chhibber, Kapil Kumar and Harshjeet Singh Sethie, and Bangalore’s Mari Muthu R. were tied for second on 3-under 69.
Akshay Sharma, fresh from two top-3 finishes in the last two events, continued his hot streak with some outstanding chipping and putting, the PGTI said.
The Chandigarh golfer’s seven birdies included three brilliant chips that led to tap-ins and four conversions on the green from a range of 10 to 35 feet. Sharma also dropped three shots.
Akshay said, “I performed well with the wedges and the putter in particular even though my driving was also accurate. I feel I’m carrying forward my positive mindset from the last few events and that once again helped me get a good start today.
Tough reads
“Reading the greens isn’t that easy here at JTGC, so I’m quite satisfied with my putting as I took just 28 putts today.”
Faridabad’s Karan Pratap, playing at JTGC for the first time, had a bogey-free day that featured two 15-foot birdie conversions. He also capitalised on two of the par-5s with good approach shots that led to birdies.
Karan, a winner on the PGTI this season, said, “As I’m playing at this venue for the very first time, I’m quite happy with my opening round effort since I feel I did well to adapt to the conditions.
“The narrow fairways are one of the challenging features of this course. I’ve not had a great second half of the season so far so this start is quite encouraging.”
Tata Steel PGTI Rankings leader Om Prakash Chouhan and last week’s winner Aman Raj were in tied ninth place on 71s.
Pawan Parihar (79) was the highest-placed among the J&K-based players as he ended the day in tied 73rd place.
Also read: Aman Raj seals hard-fought Golconda Masters win over Chandra
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