Aman Raj is early leader in Players C’hip as Shubhankar makes quiet start

By Rahul Banerji

Swashbuckling youngster Aman Raj took the early lead in Tata Steel PGTI Players Championship with a 7-under-par 65 at the Eagleton course near Bangalore on Tuesday.

The Patna golfer mixed eight birdies with a lone bogey to lead a star-studded field by two shots.

Chikkarangappa S. of Bangalore and Gurgaon-based Veer Ahlawat were tied second with rounds of 5-under-67 in the second event of the 2020 Tata Steel PGTI season.

Star attraction Shubhankar Sharma made a quiet start with a 1-over-73 for a share of 54^th place.

Aman, joint runner-up at last week’s PGTI event in Hyderabad, had a good day on the greens, sinking several birdie putts from between eight and 10 feet. The 24-year-old was two-under through the front nine that included a 25-foot birdie conversion on the fifth hole.

On fire

Aman then caught fire on the back nine where he picked up five birdies, though he missed out on two eagle opportunities on the par-5s.

Playing a professional event at Eagleton only for the second time, Aman said later, “I’m very happy with my round today. It was a good putting day for me and I feel I’m carrying forward the momentum from last week.

“I had a couple of good breaks and I dropped just one shot. I had a good putting stretch on the 15^th, 16^th and 17^th but was a little disappointed to miss a chance on the 18^th. I’m now looking forward to building on this terrific start.”

While Chikkarangappa – who was playing on his hime course – produced a bogey-free round, Ahlawat had an eagle, four birdies and a bogey in his 67.

Big bunch

Pune’s Udayan Mane, winner of the domestic tour’s last two events, was bunched in tied fourth place alongside seven others on 4-under-68 with Khalin Joshi of Bangalore a further stroke behind in tied 12^th.

Shubhankar Sharma’s round of 73 featured a birdie and two bogeys.

Also read: Mane makes it back-to-back titles with solid final round at Hyderabad