By Rahul Banerji
Kapil Kumar of Delhi set the early pace at the season-ending Tata Steel PGTI Tour Championship with a strong nine-under par 63 at Jamshedpur on Wednesday.
The Rs 3 crore event is being played simultaneously at the Beldih and Golmuri golf courses in the Steel City.
Now based in Dubai, six-time international winner Shiv Kapur returned a 64 to holf second place, the PGTO said.
Kapur’s round included an albatross on the par-5 ninth hole where he holed the second shot from 240 yards. Hyderabad’s Mohd Azhar was third on 65.
The first round of the tournament 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.
This format will be followed for the next three rounds with the par score being 72.
Kapil, currently 21st in the Tata Steel PGTI Rankings with three top-10s this season, picked up three of his four birdies at Golmuri by landing the ball close to the pin.
A runner-up at Pune earlier this year Kapil then sank longer putts on the newly-relaid Beldih to pick up three more birdies.
He also made a six-foot eagle conversion on 12.
Kapil said, “I got into a good zone after my second birdie of the day on the fourth hole. I was feeling good about my putting at that stage.
“On the eighth tee, I targeted two birdies to close the front nine at four under and then add another four to five birdies on the back nine to end up around eight or nine under.
“Even after good starts, I tend to lose momentum in the third and fourth rounds. That is something I will look to improve on this week.”
Rust-free
Shiv Kapur, who has been recovering from a rib injury and played his first competitive round in over two months, was off to a brisk start with two birdies and an albatross on the ninth at Golmuri.
Kapur then added three more birdies at Beldih by sinking a 15-footer on 11 and landing his approach within inches of the flag on 15.
Shiv said, “I surprised myself with my first competitive round in quite some time and my only goal is to get through the four rounds without much pain and had a steady start.
“Then on the ninth hole I had great yardage, 240 yards to the flag. The 5-wood took off on a great line and I did not realize till I was halfway up to the green that I had holed it.
“It was a perfect shot that set up the rest of the day for me.
“I’m obviously rusty as I haven’t had a lot of time to practice. For me right now my golf fitness isn’t at its best but overall I’m feeling good.
“I like the changes at the Beldih Golf Course. The bunkering is very good as it makes you think off the tee as earlier it was a bit too generous off the tee.
“With the new greens in place, the shots off the rough are not holding and that requires a lot of precision.”
Best of the rest
Order of Merit leader Manu Gandas shot a 66 to be tied fourth along with two-time former winner Udayan Mane and Chikkarangappa S.
With five Indian Open titles between the two of them, Jyoti Randhawa (67) was tied seventh, S.S.P. Chawrasia (69) was T16, and Ajeetesh Sandhu (70), currently third in the PGTI Order of Merit, was T22.
Yuvraj Singh Sandhu (72), second in the Tata Steel Rankings was tied for 36th place while defending champion Gaganjeet Bhullar (76) was T69.
Jeev Milkha Singh (79) was tied for 73rd.
Jamshedpur-based professionals, Karan Taunk (73) and Kurush Heerjee (75) stood T49 and T66 respectively.
With a winner’s cheque worth Rs. 45 lakh, the biggest-ever on the PGTI, it promises to be a close contest for the top spot between Gandas, Yuvraj Sandhu and Ajeetesh Sandhu.
Also read: Jeev leads star cast at Tata Steel Tour Championship
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