By Rahul Banerji
Yashas Chandra set the bar with a 7-under par 65 in round one of the Rs. 50 lakh Tata Steel PGTI Players Championship at the Panchkula Golf Club on Wednesday.
The 26-year-old from Mysore, tied 11th at Hyderabad last week, turned in an error-free card at a venue he has struck some low scores in the past.
Reigning PGTI Order of Merit champion Rashid Khan of Delhi, who ended tied seventh last week, also continued to impress with a 5-under 67.
Alongside Rashid in a share of second place were Kolkata’s Sunit Chowrasia and Veer Ahlawat of Gurgaon.
Yashas Chandra, 2018 PGTI Emerging Player of the Year in his rookie season, made his move with consecutive birdies from the fifth to the eighth holes with some brilliant driving and chipping.
Drawing confidence from his top-10 and top-20 finish in his last two events at Panchkula, Chandra picked up three more birdies on the back nine including a 30-foot conversion on 18.
Good record
Chandra, searching for his maiden title, said, “I’ve played well at the PGC in the past and that kind of helped heading into this week.
“I finished fourth here back in 2019 having shot a 7-under in one of the rounds. I also made three eagles in my opening round at the same event.
“I was hitting it well so kept landing it close to the green on the par-5s and made some good chips from there to create chances.
“I’ve been sharp in all aspects of my game since last week but now I just need to make sure that I stay patient.
“It was quite windy today but the wind didn’t create too many doubts for me because it was one-way and not swirling around. One could commit to a shot.
“During the strict lockdown in my hometown when I was housebound, I set up a practice net in my backyard and practised hitting and chipping daily.
“Importantly, that kept me in touch with the game and contributed to my good ball-striking since the resumption of the season last week.”
Two-time Asian Tour winner Rashid Khan mixed six birdies with a bogey during his 67.
The round featured some quality approach shots and up and downs and he closed the day with a 15-foot birdie conversion on the ninth.
Settling swing
Rashid said, “I’m in the process of finding my swing. Things are slowly settling down for me.
“My ball-flight is generally high but I’ve somehow been hitting it low for the last few months. That seems to have worked to my advantage today as low ball-flight helps in such windy conditions.
“After a good finish last week I’m hoping to carry forward the momentum in this event.”
Sunit Chowrasia too had six birdies and a bogey while Ahlawat sank seven birdies against two bogeys to share second place along with Rashid.
Chandigarh’s Ranjit Singh was the highest-placed Tricity golfer with a 68 to occupy fifth position.
The eight players bunched on 69 included the Chandigarh trio of Karandeep Kochhar, Abhijit Singh Chadha and the seasoned Amritinder Singh.
Others on the mark were Chikkarangappa S. and M Dharma of Bangalore, Kolkata’s Shankar Das, Mhow-based Om Prakash Chouhan and Delhi’s Kartik Sharma.
Defending champion Akshay Sharma of Chandigarh and Gurugram-based Manu Gandas, winner on the PGTI last week, were T26 on 72.
Also read: Top guns in field for Rs 50 lakh Players Championship at Panchkula
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