Hossain sets early pace at Mujib Borsho Chattogram Open

By Rahul Banerji

Local lad Md Akbar Hossain of Bangladesh fired an opening round of 5-under 67 to lead the Mujib Borsho Chattogram Open on Wednesday.

Hossain led compatriot Md Razu (68) at the Bhatiary Golf & Country Club at the third event of the 2022 Tata Steel PGTI season and the first Official World Golf Ranking event in Bangladesh in three years.

Harshjeet Singh Sethie was the best-placed Indian golfer in third place on 3-under 69 at the Rs 50 lakh event, the PGTI said.

Hossain made early inroads with three birdies on the first four holes.

He then picked up two more strokes to go 5-under at the turn before a quiet front nine where he swapped a birdie for bogey.

Akbar, who earned his full card on the PGTI this season after finishing in the top-40 at Q School, said, “I hit it close throughout the day today.

“My iron shots were accurate and helped me set up short birdie putts. I had 15 greens in regulation and landed it within three feet on three occasions.

Good tune-up

“I’m riding on the confidence of having performed well at the PGTI Q School where I earned my card for the season. I’ll look to build on this going ahead by capitalising on my good ball-striking form.”

Razu enjoyed an error-free day with an eagle-two and two birdies to be hard on the heels of the leader.

Sethie began the day with three straight birdies but dropped two shots on the back nine.

The towering Sethie, who turned professional in 2020, added four more birdies to his card on the front-nine in exchange for two bogeys.

There was a three-way tie for fourth place at two-under 70 between Md Rasel of Bangladesh, India’s Shankar Das and Sri Lanka’s N. Thangaraja.

Bangladesh’s premier golfer Md Siddikur Rahman, one of the pre-tournament favourites, was among the 16 players bunched in tied seventh place on 71.

Md Zamal Hossain Mollah, another prominent name from Bangladesh, was T34 on 2-over 74.

Also read: Mujib Borsho Chattogram Open a long-awaited event for Bangladesh