By Rahul Banerji
Two-time Indian Open winner S.S.P. Chawrasia laid down the early marker at the season-ending Tata Steel Tour Championship with a blistering 9-under 63 in Jamshedpur on Thursday.
Other favourites too had a field day at the Rs. 1.5 crore event with European Tour regular Shubhankar Sharma and defending champion Gaganjeet Bhullar tied for second on 5-under 67s.
The first round saw one half of the field play their first nine holes at Golmuri Golf Course and second nine at Beldih Golf Course and vice-versa.
The format will be followed for the next three rounds of the tournament with the par for the round being 72, the PGTI said.
Chawrasia had an early birdie on the second hole despite his stance being in the bunker on his approach shot.
That set the tone for four-time European Tour winner Chawrasia’s round as eight more birdies followed.
SSP, a three-time winner in Jamshedpur, landed his wedges extremely close on the fourth, eighth and 15th and sank it from 10 to 15 feet on the ninth, 14th and 18th to cap an almost perfect day across both the venues for an imposing four-shot lead.
The Kolkata-based SSP, who had shot an 11-under 61 at Beldih in round two of the tournament last year, said, “I’ve been playing in Jamshedpur since the inaugural event here about two decades back.
“So I’m at ease at these two venues because I know both courses pretty well. I know exactly where to land the ball.
Familiar terrain
“I’ve also won three times playing on these two courses so that also helps.
“Importantly, I was quite focused through the day, so the break after the front-nine and the travel between the courses didn’t really affect me too much.
“I hit it within 10 feet on most occasions to set up birdies. Making birdie on the ninth was also crucial as it helped carry forward the positive vibes to the second venue for the back-nine.”
Sharma and nine-time Asian Tour winner Bhullar made seven birdies and two bogeys each on day one for impressive starts to the week.
Shubhankar was one-under through 10 holes before he had a flurry of birdies on 11, 12, 16 and 18.
Chandigarh-based Sharma said, “After a slow start, I found my putting touch in Beldih. I also made some crucial conversions towards the end of my round.
“It was a satisfying day as I was quite patient on the greens. I was happy to end with a long birdie putt on the 18th.
“It’s not easy to make putts as you got to change and adapt to the speed of the greens, especially in Beldih.
On-and-off
“You have to switch on at the start and then switch on again with the change of course and then rediscover your touch on the greens. Hopefully, I can do that again in the next three days.”
Bhullar was excellent with his wedges as he set up three tap-in birdies. Like Shubhankar, he closed the day with a 15-foot birdie conversion on the 18th.
Gaganjeet, who hails from Kapurthala in Punjab, said, “I putted quite well today. I gave myself a lot of birdie opportunities and converted most of those chances.
“Except for a few erratic holes, I was quite consistent and composed through the day.
“I picked up momentum on the last few holes hitting my wedges quite close.
“The three back-to-back birdies on the back-nine were the highlight of the round. I left myself putts within five feet on all those holes.”
Tight bunch
Among the 12 bunched in tied fourth on 68 were three-time winner Mukesh Kumar, two-time winner Om Prakash Chouhan, both from Mhow, Madhya Pradesh.
Others included Olympian and 2019 winner Udayan Mane, who hails from Pune and is third in the PGTI Order of Merit and Gurugram’s Veer Ahlawat, eighth on the money list.
Order of Merit leader Karandeep Kochhar of Chandigarh was tied 28th on 71 along with Indian golf legend Jyoti Randhawa and Jamshedpur-based Karan Taunk.
Chikkarangappa S., second in the Order of Merit shot a 72 to be tied 37th.
Kurush Heerjee, the second player from Jamshedpur in the field, was T52 on 2-over 74.
Also read: Beldih, Golmuri to host Tata Steel Tour Championship 2021
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