Bishmadpal Singh (above) leads the NexGen Phillaur Open with his twin brother Brashwarpal Singh and fellow Chandigarh golfer Manjot Singh after the first day. Image courtesy PGTI.
By Rahul Banerji
Twins Bishmadpal Singh and Brashwarpal Singh, and Manjot Singh shared the round one lead of the PGTI NexGen Phillaur Open presented by R.S. Gill at the Ranjitgarh Golf Club on Tuesday.
The all-Chandigarh trio shot scores of 5 under par 66 ahead of Delhi’s Wasim Khan and Panchkula’s Abhishek Kumar who were tied for fourth on 4 under 67, the PGTI said.
Bishmadpal and Brashwarpal (22) topped the pack on Tuesday with the former producing six birdies and a bogey and the latter carding seven birdies against two dropped shots.
Nineteen-year-old Manjot Singh made six birdies and a bogey to join the brothers at the top.
Bishmadpal, still recovering from a wrist injury he suffered late last season, made birdies on four out of the five par-5s and got himself out of trouble from the hazard and from the trees with a couple of outstanding second shots.
Bishmadpal said, “My planning and execution were perfect today as I attacked only where I felt I had a great chance to score.
Carrying confidence
“I played well in the Q School last month to earn my ‘A’ card on the PGTI which gave me a lot of confidence at the start of the year.”
Brashwarpal hit it close through the day as he left himself birdie tap-ins on three occasions. He also sank a 20-footer for birdie.
“All parts of my game were sharp today, especially the iron shots, chipping and putting,” Brashwarpal said.
“I also worked a lot on the mental aspect of my game recently which has helped me. I’ve drawn confidence from my performances in the second half of the 2024 PGTI season.”
Phillaur’s Swatanter Kumar was tied for 20th with an opening 71. Amit Kumar, the other Phillaur-based professional in the field of 80, had a 74 to be T43.
The presenting partner for this week’s event in Phillaur is renowned lawyer and avid golfer R.S. Gill.
The event offers a purse of Rs 20 lakh and marks the return of professional golf and the PGTI to Phillaur after 14 years. It will be played over 54 holes with the top 36 and ties making the 36-hole cut.
Also read: Panchkula’s Brijesh Kumar wins NexGen Kapurthala with late run
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