By Rahul Banerji
Gaganjeet Bhullar carded an 8-under 64 for a two-shot first-round lead at the Rs 3 crore Tata Steel Tour Championship in Jamshedpur on Thursday.
Kartik Sharma, N. Thangaraja, Angad Cheema, Shamim Khan, Divyanshu Bajaj, Arjun Prasad and Khalin Joshi were tied for second on 66 at the Beldih and Golmuri golf courses
The tournament’s first round saw half of the field play their first nine holes at Golmuri and the second nine at Beldih before they swapped courses.
This format will also be followed for the next three rounds of the tournament in Jamshedpur with the par per round being 72, the PGTI said.
Former champion Bhullar, riding high on his recent victory in Asia, had a dream start, with birdies on his first three holes followed by an eagle on the fourth.
The 35-five-year-old, winner of 12 international titles, found the edge of the green with his approach shots on the second and third holes, both par-5s, to set up two-putts.
On the move
He then chipped in for eagle on the fourth. On the ninth, Gaganjeet sank a 20-footer to move his score to 6-under for the day.
A bogey on 11 wasn’t too much a cause of concern for Bhullar because he came back stronger with three birdies thereafter, and ended with birdies all the five par-5 holes.
Bhullar, who won the event in 2020, said, “The game has been trending well and I had a dream start today being five-under over the first four holes.
“I gave myself a lot of birdie opportunities by making 16 greens in regulation and driving it well, especially at Golmuri. I just missed two fairways on the back nine at Beldih.
“We have a very different kind of setup here as we play each round across two courses. However, I was mentally and physically prepared for it as I’ve played this format before at Jamshedpur.
Mental switch
“It took me a few holes to get used to the different green speed when I moved from Golmuri to Beldih today but after that it was smooth sailing.”
Defending champion Chikkarangappa S. fired a 70 to be tied 23rd while the 2019 and 2021 winner Udayan Mane was a shot behind in tied 36th place.
Tata Steel PGTI Ranking leader Om Prakash Chouhan’s 72 placed him tied 47th.
The two Jamshedpur-based professionals Karan Taunk (72) and Kurush Heerjee (75) were placed tied 47th and tied 66th respectively.
Round 1 leaders
64: Gaganjeet Bhullar
66: Kartik Sharma, N Thangaraja, Angad Cheema, Shamim Khan, Divyanshu Bajaj, Arjun Prasad, Khalin Joshi
67: Akshay Sharma
Also read: Season-ending Tour Championship to feature elite field of 75
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