Asian Tour regular and co-leader Karandeep Kochhar tees off on day one of the Rs 1 crore Poona Club Open in Pune on Wednesday. Image courtesy PGTI.
By Rahul Banerji
Karandeep Kochhar and Kshitij Naveed Kaul shot 7 under par 64s to hold the day one joint lead at the Rs 1 crore Poona Club Open in Pune on Wednesday.
Delhi’s’ Rashid Khan and Saarthak Chhibber produced rounds of 6 under 65 to share third place, the PGTI said.
Divyansh Dubey, who had two eagles in his 66 was the best-placed Pune professionals and was tied for fifth place along with Chandimandir’s Chandarjeet Yadav and M. Dharma of Bangalore.
Tata Steel PGTI Ranking leader Veer Ahlawat returned a 68 to share 12th place while local favourite Udayan Mane had a 72 for tied 60th.
Asian Tour regular Kochhar, who was in great driving form came up with a flawless round on Wednesday.
The Chandigarh golfer converted two short birdie putts on the front nine before driving the green on the par-4 ninth and rolling in a 15-footer for eagle.
He then drove the very next green on the par-4 10th to set up a two-putt for birdie. The 25-year-old thereafter added two more birdies to his card including another 15-foot conversion.
Aggressive approach
“Importantly, I was aggressive with the driver from the start and my chipping and putting were also spot on,” Karandeep said.
“This is my seventh event in a row so the body is a bit tired but my game has been trending in the right direction and I’m quite pleased about that.
Delhi golfer Kshitij Naveed Kaul on his way into the shared day one lead at the Poon Club Golf Course on Wednesday. Image courtesy PGTI.
“It’s all about taking advantage of the short par-4 holes at this course. There are a few narrow fairways but the rough is not up, so one can still be aggressive with the driver.”
Kaul, 23, made eight birdies and a bogey in his round.
“I have good memories of the Poona Club Golf Course as I won my maiden professional title here in my rookie season in 2019,” Kshitij said.
“That was just my fifth start in my first full season as a pro. I’ll look to capitalise on those good memories this week.”
Also read: Inaugural Poona Club Open to see ranking leaders in the fray
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