Chinnappa equals Chandigarh course record to take round one lead

By Rahul Banerji

Young Bangalore golfer Trishul Chinnappa equalled the course record of 7-under-65 to lead after the opening round at the Tata Steel PGTI Players Championship at the Chandigarh Golf Club on Tuesday.

The 25-year-old joined Shiv Kapur, Mukesh Kumar, Gaganjeet Bhullar, Gaurav Ghei and Ranjit Singh, as the joint course record holder at the Rs 30 lakh event, the last before the mid-season break.

Patna’s Aman Raj, Mumbai’s Anil Bajrang Mane and Bangladesh’s Md Dulal Hossain were tied second with scores of 5-under-67s.

Teenager Karandeep Kochhar fired a 4-under-68 to be the bst-placed among the local golfers in tied fifth.

Chinnappa, one of India’s leading amateurs before turning pro in 2015, made early gains in round one with two birdies in his first four holes including a brilliant bunker shot and a 20-foot putt. He also picked two further shots before making the turn.

Sole blip

A bogey on the 10^th was the only blip on Chinnappa’s card as he went on to pocket an eagle on the 13^th and two more birdies on his inward nine. Chinnappa, currently 34^th on the PGTI Order of Merit and still searching for his maiden win, converted his second 20-footer of the day for the eagle.

Chinnappa said, “I’m delighted to have equaled my previous career-best score of 7-under. I put myself in good positions today and created a lot of chances. I made up and downs whenever I missed the green. Importantly, I kept myself in play off the tee.

“I believe my score is a result of the lessons I have learnt from all my past experiences at this venue. I have had some good starts here which I wasn’t able to capitalize on. But today was different as I kept the intensity going till the end.”

Coming good

Mane shot his best score in over a year in a round of 67 that was highlighted by a chip-in birdie as well as a great recovery from the trees followed by a 35-foot conversion for eagle later. He also landed his wedge shots within five feet twice to set up two more birdies.

Aman Raj, who has top-6 finishes in his last two appearances at the Chandigarh Golf Club, was once again at his best at one of his favourite venues. Aman mixed six birdies with a bogey as most of his putts were less than 12 feet.

Hossain, who also took a share of second, hit seven birdies against two bogeys. He enjoyed a late surge as he closed the round with birdies on the last two holes.

Kochhar knocked in five birdies over the first 13 holes but then had a dramatic end to the day with a double-bogey on the 15^th followed by birdies on the next two holes and a bogey on the 18^th.

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