Gandas shoots into Vooty Masters lead with clean nine-under round

By Rahul Banerji

With four wins under his belt this season, Manu Gandas continued his red-hot form with a fiery nine-under 63, to take the day one lead at the inaugural Vooty Masters on Thursday.

In the process, the Gurgaon-based golfer, second on the PGTI Order of Merit, also set the course record at the first-ever PGTI event at the Vooty Golf County in Vikarabad.

Chandigarh’s Angad Cheema and Gurgaon-based Kartik Sharma were two shots adrift of the leader on seven-under 65 for a share of second place at the event presented by the Dream Valley Group.

One stroke behind them were Varun Parikh, Om Prakash Chouhan, Arjun Bhati and Kshitij Naveed Kaul in shared fourth spot, the PGTI said.

Rankings leader Yuvraj Singh Sandhu was four shots behind the leader on five-under 67 alongside Karun Taunk and Aadil Bedi in shared eighth place.

Teeing-off just before noon at the pristine Vooty Golf County, Gandas carded a bogey-free round with four birdies on the front nine and five on his way back.

Short putts

Gandas’ clean hitting saw him set up a number of short birdie putts. His longest conversion of the day was a 25-footer on the front nine.

On a course where the players found it tough to negotiate the thick rough, Gandas helped his cause by finding 10 out of 14 fairways and 14 greens in regulation.

The 26-year-old hit a purple patch with three consecutive birdies on the back nine as he chipped in from the bunker for the first.

He then drove past the green on the next for an up and down and then recovered from the bunker for the third.

Gandas said later, “My driving was quite good and putting better than the past two weeks. I also made some good up and downs today.

“The chip-in from the bunker on 14 really got me going today as I followed it up with three more birdies in quick succession.

“I feel this is a risk-reward course. But at the same time, you have to be wary of the challenges posed by the thick rough.

“I’m in a good mental space at the moment. It’s now about sticking to the process and being patient and the results should then follow.”

Cheema and Kartik Sharma too shot error-free rounds.

Sandhu, a five-time winner this season, mixed an eagle and six birdies with three bogeys on Thursday.

First ace

Chandigarh-based Bedi had the first hole-in-one recorded by a pro at the venue on the second hole.

Ajeetesh Sandhu, one of the pre-event favourites, was tied 22^nd on two-under 70.

Mohd Azhar, playing at his home course, returned a 72, to be the highest-placed local golfer at tied 45^th.

Also read: Inaugural Vooty Masters gets under way in Hyderabad from Thurs.