Mane, Cheema among five-way tie for Delhi Challenge lead

Tokyo Olympian Udayan Mane returned an error-free card on day one of the $300,000 Delhi Challenger to share the lead at Classic Golf and Country Club on Thursday. Image courtesy PGTI.

By Rahul Banerji

Udayan Mane and Angad Cheema part of a five-way tie for the lead on day one of the $300,000 Delhi Challenge at the Classic Golf and Country Club near Gurgaon on Thursday.

The Indian duo posted scores of 7 under par 65 at the HotelPlanner Tour-PGTI joint sanctioned event on a day the top 74 in the field broke par, the PGTI said,

Mane had a bogey-free round while Cheema hit eight birdies against one dropped shot. Alongside them were Quim Vidal of Spain, Swede Jasper Sandborg and England’s Jamie Rutherford.

Oihan Guillamoundeguy of France and Davis Bryant of the US were a shot off the lead in tied sixth place.

Honey Baisoya struck a 67 to be the third Indian in the top 10 to share eighth place with seven others.

Welshman James Ashfield made a hole-in-one on hole 11 during his round of 70 and was in a tie for 47^th.

Tokyo Olympian Mane made three exceptional up and downs including two from the bunker to pick up shots besides sinking three birdie putts from between nine and 15 feet.

Less punishing

Mane said, “I played well in RCGC last week but the errant shots there were a lot more penal than they are here at Classic.

“This golf course is easy on the eye for tee shots and I drove it really well today. I hit most of the fairways and I was happy to see the driver behaving. I drove it the way I needed to week in and week out.

Angad Cheema swapped eight birdies for one dropped shot on his way into the five-way opening day tie for the lead at the Classic GCC course near Gurgaon. Image courtesy PGTI.

“The bunker shots were one of the highlights of my round. I recently worked on my set up, I felt I was standing a little too far away, which led to a lot of inconsistency in my stroke.

“So now I’m standing taller and closer to the ball which has led to much better results from the bunker for me.”

Cheema made a couple of long birdie conversions and landed the ball within three feet on three occasions to pick up birdies.

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