Jamal Hossain of Bangladesh on his way into the clubhouse lead on day one of the Vishwa Samudra Open presented by Kapi; Dev at Delhi Golf Club on Tuesday. Image courtesy PGTI.
By Rahul Banerji
In-form Jamal Hossain, fresh from his victory in Digboi, continued the run with an opening 5 under par 67 for the clubhouse lead in the Vishwa Samudra Open presented by Kapil Dev at Delhi Golf Club on Tuesday.
Chandimandir’s Ravi Kumar, Ajeetesh Sandhu of Chandigarh, Greater Noida-based Sudhir Sharma, M. Dharma of Bangalore and Gurgaon’s Manish Thakran were tied second on 3 under 69, the PGTI said.
Fog delayed the start of the Rs 2 crore event by 40 minutes in the morning, and 27 players out of a total of 124 could not complete their round on Tuesday when play was suspended at 5:30 p.m. due to fading light.
They will resume their first round at 7 a.m. on Wednesday. Round two will commence after the completion of the opening 18 holes.
On a high-scoring first day, Hossain began the week with a bang, sinking consecutive 15-footers for birdie on the first two holes.
Lone blip
A five-time PGTI winner Jamal’s only bogey came on the third after which he picked up the pace once again with birdies on the fourth, eighth and ninth, landing his shots within five feet on two occasions and sank a 20-footer as well.
The 39-year-old from Bangladesh, currently 17th on the Tata Steel PGTI Ranking, outdid the field in difficult conditions, making all fairways and hitting 16 greens in regulation.
Despite Hossain not being at his best with the putter on the back nine, he managed eight pars and a birdie with a 20-foot conversion on the closing hole.
“At the DGC, you need to hit it straight and that’s what I did well today,” Hossain said later.
“The conditions were not easy because it was quite cold and it needed a lot of adjustment from my end since I come from a much warmer place.
“I hit all fairways and made 16 regulations which are excellent stats for this course and also putted well on the front nine.
“I feel I found my hitting form at Jaipur in mid-November. There’s been no looking back since then as the win in Digboi thereafter lifted my confidence further.”
Asian Tour regular Rashid Khan was tied seventh on 2 under 70 while ranking leader Veer Ahlawat was 1 under after 15 holes.
Also read: Inaugural Vishwa Samudra Open tees off at DGC on Tuesday
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