Late runner Paul hauls in local lad Baisoya at Hero Indian Open

By Rahul Banerji

Local lad Honey Baisoya opened with a six-under 66 to sit in second place behind Germany’s Yannik Paul on day one of the $2 million Hero Indian Open in Gurgaon on Thursday

Baisoya, who trains at the DLF Golf Academy held the clubhouse lead for much of the day till he was hauled in late in the afternoon by the hard-charging Paul (65), who briefly threatened the course record.

Paul’s charge was built around birdies on each of his final four holes and eight in all against one dropped shot early on in the round.

Paul finished second behind Thorbjorn Olesen of Denmark at last week’s DP World Tour event in Thailand. On Thursday, the Dane was well down the order with a one-over 73.

The first round remained incomplete as fading light forced the final two groups off the course.

Finland’s Mikko Korhonen was in third place with a 67 with Indians Shubhankar Sharma and Angad Cheema firing 68s to share fourth spot with Iceland’s Gudmundur Kristjansson.

Seven players including Manu Gandas, M. Dharma and Yuvraj Singh Sandhu were tied for eighth on two-under 70. Among them Yuvraj will come back in the morning to play his last hole.

Familiarity with the DLF Golf and Country Club layout paid off for seven-time PGTI winner Honey Baisoya, who said later he played the course every day when he was in town.

Good gains

Baisoya’s round featured eight birdies and a double-bogey.

Honey said later, “It was pretty good. You’re going to miss a few out there. That’s okay.

“I just made one error on the 14th hole. But that’s how DLF is, if you make one bad shot, you’re going to come up with a bogey or even a double.

“I made some really good putts today too. The highlight of the day would be on the 16th hole.

“The ball hit a tree off the tee and came back about 30 yards. I then had roughly 40 yards to the flag and made the chip and putt there. That was very satisfying.”

Shubhankar, who produced six birdies and two bogeys on day one, said, “I’m quite pleased with the round.

“It was slightly up and down in the beginning. But the back nine is the tougher nine here which is where I started.  

“Sometimes you don’t make too many mistakes, but even good shots don’t get the result and that happened a couple of times with me on the back nine where I made two bogeys, but I was playing well and I was feeling really good.”

Cheema, like Shubhankar, enjoyed a fruitful second nine with five of his six birdies coming on the front nine against two dropped shots.

A PGTI winner, Angad said, “I’m delighted to have got off to a good start. I feel I’ve been in good rhythm since the second half of last season when I was in contention quite a few times.”

Among prominent Indian names, two-time champion S.S.P. Chawrasia, Gaganjeet Bhullar and Shiv Kapur shot scores of 75.

Indifferent start

Defending champion Stephen Gallacher of Scotland returned a 77 on a day only the top 33 in the field of 120 were able to finish par or better.

Paul was pleased with his round, saying, “I played well today. I knew it’s a challenging course and I just tried to, you know, focus on one shot at a time.”

“And I had a great finish. four birdies in the last four holes. That helps. So, tomorrow’s a new day, just focus on what I can control and see where it ends up, ” the 28-year-old added. 

Paul was one shy of Shubhankar Sharma’s course record of eight-under 64 and his eagle putt on the closing Par-5 18th hole just slid by the pin.

Playing in the group just ahead, 2022 PGTI Order of Merit topper Gandas (70) too narrowly missed adding an eagle to his name on the 18th. 

Also read: Hero Indian Open 2023 tees off in perfect conditions