Akshay Sharma takes early lead at Jaipur Open with fiery opener

By Rahul Banerji

Akshay Sharma shot a sizzling 7-under par 63 for the day 1 lead in the Rs 1 crore Bhawani Singh Rathore presents Jaipur Open at Rambagh Golf Club on Wednesday.

Jairaj Singh Sandhu, like Sharma also from Chandigarh and Delhi-based Saptak Talwar were tied for second on 6-under 64.

Sharma carded eight birdies and a bogey on Wednesday to show signs of form after having hit a rough patch over the last few events.

He began the day with a long birdie conversion on the third hole before he went on to pick up five more shots with putts less than 10 feet.

The line bogey came on the back nine but he more than made up for it with birdies on the last two holes including a two-putt from 70 feet on the 18.

Sharma, currently 10^th on the Tata Steel PGTI Ranking with five top-10s this year including two runner-up finishes, said, “Putting was the highlight of my round today.

Measured approach

“I made birdies on all the four par-5s. I planned not to attack the par-5s today because they were playing tricky due to the headwind.

“The Rambagh Golf Club is in great shape and playing even better than last year after they changed the greens. Making greens in regulation will be the key going ahead on this course.

“I had momentum with some good finishes till October. But after missing the cut at my home course for the first time in so many years, I lost some confidence. But now I feel that I’m slowly getting back in the groove.”

Sandhu’s 64 featured seven birdies and a bogey, picking up four shots with long conversions.

Talwar had eight birdies and a double-bogey in his round of 64 and landed it within a foot of the flag on a couple of occasions.

Among the nine players bunched in tied fourth at 65, were last year’s Order of Merit champion Manu Gandas and 2018 Jaipur Open winner Aman Raj.

Prakhar Asawa fired an even-par 70 to be the highest-placed among the Jaipur-based professionals at tied 48^th place.

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