Malik fires a 67 for Day 1 lead at IndianOil Servo Masters

Amardeep Malik of the Noida Golf Course in action on day one of the IndianOil Servo Masters in Digboi, Assam, on Wednesday. Image courtesy PGTI.

By Rahul Banerji

Noida’s Amardeep Malik shot a 5 under par 67 to take the first-round lead at the IndianOil Servo Masters at the Digboi Golf Links in Assam on Wednesday.

Past winner Honey Baisoya of Delhi, Pune’s Divyansh Dubey, Bangladesh golfer Jamal Hossain, Bangalore’s Syed Saqib Ahmed and Panchkula’s Abhishek shared second place on 4 under 68s.

Deven Bhumij was the highest-placed among the Digboi-based professionals after he returned a round of 73 to be tied 50^th, the PGTI said

Jaipur Open winner last week, Delhi’s Sachin Baisoya was one of five tied for seventh on 69s.

Angad Cheema and Udayan Mane, struck scores of 72 to be tied 36^th.

Two-time PGTI winner Malik mixed six birdies with a bogey on Wednesday to be back in the mix after a couple of ordinary weeks on tour.

The 39-year-old found his rhythm both off the tee and with his approach shots, landing the ball from between five and 10 feet of the flag on at least three occasions.

Solid striking

“I had my best ball-striking day today since the last three weeks,” Malik said later. “This course requires you to be good off the tee and I did that well. I was also lucky with some of my putts rolling in.

“I was struggling with the timing of my hitting in recent weeks. But I had a few days after missing the cut in Jaipur and used that time well by working hard at getting the timing of my strokes back.

“I’m glad things are falling in place as a result of all that effort that I put in.

“It’s great to be back in Digboi for this event. I’ve been coming here to play the Servo Masters for nearly 20 years now. I thank IndianOil for their continued support to PGTI and Indian professionals through the staging of this event.”

The tournament was inaugurated in the morning by Lt. Col. Ajay Kaila (Retd.), ED & Refinery Head, Digboi Refinery, who hit the ceremonial tee shot, hoisted the IndianOil flag and planted a sapling during the opening.

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