Bangalore’s Rahil Gangjee seized the day one lead at the Haryana Open in Panchkula with a sizzling 9 under round on Thursday. Image courtesy PGTI.
By Rahul Banerji
The vastly experienced Rahil Gangjee carded a superb 9 under par 63 for the first-round lead at the Rs 1 crore Haryana Open at the Panchkula Golf Club on Thursday.
Varun Parikh of Ahmedabad produced a personal best score of 8 under 64 to hold second place, the PGTI said.
Defending champion Jairaj Singh Sandhu of Chandigarh was tied for third on 7 under 65 along with teenage rookie Anshul Kabthiyal, N. Thangaraja, Dhruv Sheoran and Kshitij Naveed Kaul.
Chandigarh’s Harendra Gupta was the other Tricity golfer in the top 10 with a 67 for a share of ninth place.
Gangjee, who is fourth on the Tata Steel PGTI Ranking with five top-10s, stamped his authority on the 7,179-yard PGC with an eagle and eight birdies against a lone bogey.
The 46-six-year-old, winner of five international titles including two on the Asian Development Tour this year, began from the 10th hole and scored five birdies before the turn that had three conversions from between 12 and 30 feet.
Bangalore-based Gangjee then carried forward the momentum with some excellent wedge play on the front nine leaving himself two birdie tap-ins.
After bogey on the eighth, Rahil bounced back by holing out his approach shot from 140 yards for an eagle-two on the par-4 ninth.
Gangjee said, “I’m really happy with the year so far. I’ve worked a lot on the mental aspect of my game.
Injury-free
“I’m also feeling good physically having recovered from a couple of injuries that had hampered my game for some time. I’m now looking forward to winning on the PGTI as it’s been a long time since I’ve done that.
“Two back-to-back long birdie conversions on 18 and the first holes gave me a huge boost today. I also came back really well with an eagle on the last hole after the bogey on the eighth.
“My wife Ruhi, also caddying for me this week, told me not to worry after my bogey on the eighth as she predicted I would make an eagle on the ninth.
“That’s exactly what I did. So I’m grateful to her for all the good thoughts that she gives me on the golf course.”
Earlier in the day, Parikh sank three 25-footers and produced some excellent chip-putts in his round of 64 that marked his lowest score in a tournament.
Defending champion Sandhu drove and putted well to shoot an error-free 65 on day one that kept him in the mix. Noida’s Amardeep Malik was sole eighth with a solid 6 under 66.
Also read: Haryana Open tees off on Thursday at Panchkula Golf Club
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