By Rahul Banerji
Khalin Joshi rode an injured wrist, inconsistent putting and two eagles to post a first round 6-under-66 for the lead at the Jeev Milkha Singh Invitational presented by Take Sports in Chandigarh on Thursday.
The 28-year-old frm Bangalore, a winner of four titles including one on the Asian Tour, had an eventful day as he also had five birdies and three bogeys for a one-shot lead at the Rs. 1.5 crore event at the Chandigarh Golf Club.
Akshay Sharma o Chandigarh was tied in second place on 5-under-67 along with another Bangalorean, M. Dharma, the PGTI media office said.
Anirban Lahiri (70) was tied 10th, S.S.P. Chawrasia (71) was tied 16th, Gaganjeet Bhullar (72) tied 33rd, Jyoti Randhawa (74) tied 53rd and tournament host Jeev Milkha Singh (75) was placed tied 68th.
Joshi, who started from the 10th tee on Thursday, made a 20-foot eagle conversion on the 13th hole and added two birdies and two three-putt bogeys to make the turn 2-under.
He then picked up his second eagle of the day with an excellent drive and a 10-foot conversion on the second hole.
Wedge wizardry
Joshi collected three more birdies on his way to the clubhouse with solid gap wedge play but also had his third three-putt bogey of the day in the tally.
Currently ranked 10th on the PGTI merit list thanks to three top-10s in the season, Joshi said, “I was thinking about withdrawing but the good work by Nav, the physio at CGA, helped my wrist feel much better.
“My hitting including my driving and approach shots stood out today. However, putting was patchy. I made some good conversions but also had three three-putts which all resulted in bogeys.
“I replaced the three-iron in my bag with a gap wedge for this week as I felt the latter would suit me more for the yardages at this course.
“The wedge helped set up a couple of birdies for me today.
“When I played the two events here in November I felt my basics were off and my ball position was not great.
Back to basics
“I was not very comfortable on the course then even though those two events helped getting me back in the groove. Thereafter, I went back and worked on some of my basics including my ball position.”
Akshay Sharma, winner in Panchkula last month, made a poor start with bogey on his opening hole. He rallied with a birdie-eagle run sequence with 20 and 10 foot putts respectively.
Akshay impressed with long conversions through the day, draining birdie putts from 20 to 35 feet on the 17th, third and eighth holes.
Currently fourth on the PGTI Order of Merit, Sharma said, “I didn’t have a great start but the eagle on the 13th really lifted my confidence.
“It was windy and I struggled with my hitting making only 12 greens in regulation. I sank a lot of long putts today but missed as many as three short putts within five feet.
Riding momentum
“I’m feeling the momentum since my win last month. Playing on my home course adds to my confidence so I’m looking forward to another good week,” added Sharma.
Sharma won in Panchkula in November and followed that up with a third place finish in Chandigarh the following week.
Dharma, a two-time winner on the PGTI, had six birdies after a bogey on his opening hole.
Gurgaon’s Veer Ahlawat and Noida-based Amardeep Malik were joint fourth with scores of 68.
Chikkarangappa S., the 2018 champion, was tied for sixth on 69 along with the Chandigarh duo of Angad Cheema and Shabeg Singh Kooner, and Faridabad’s Abhinav Lohan.
Also read: Sharma goes wire-to-wire to equal event-winning record
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