Harpal Singh Bedi
SSP Chawrasia fired a terrific nine-under 63 to emerge sole leader while Shubhankar Sharma and defending champion Gaganjeet Bhullar were tied for second at five-under 67 on the opening day of the Rs. 1.5 crore TATA Steel Tour Championship here on Thrusday.
The first round of the PGTI’s season-ending event saw one half of the field play their first nine holes at Golmuri Golf Course and second nine at Beldih Golf Course while the other half of the field played Beldih first followed by Golmuri.
This format will also be followed for the next three rounds of the tournament in Jamshedpur with the par for the round being 72.
Chawrasia pulled off an early birdie on the second hole despite his stance being in the bunker on his approach shot and followed it up with eight more birdies to cap an almost perfect day across both the venues for an impressive four-shot lead.
Chawrasia , who had shot an 11-under 61 at Beldih in round two of the tournament last year, said, “I’ve been playing in Jamshedpur since the inaugural event here about two decades back so I’m always at ease at these two venues because I know both the courses pretty well. I know exactly where to land the ball. I’ve also won three times playing on these two courses so that also helps.
Two-time European Tour winner Shubhankar Sharma and nine-time Asian Tour winner Gaganjeet Bhullar made seven birdies and two bogeys each on day one.
Shubhankar was one-under through 10 holes before he had a flurry of birdies on the 11th, 12th, 16th and 18th.
Chandigarh-based Sharma said, “After a slow start, I found my putting touch in Beldih. I also made some crucial conversions towards the end of my round. It was a satisfying day as I was quite patient on the greens. I was happy to end the day with a long birdie putt on the 18th.
Gaganjeet Bhullar was excellent with his wedges as he set up three tap-in birdies. Like Shubhankar, Bhullar too closed the day with a 15-feet birdie conversion on the 18th.
“I putted quite well today. I gave myself a lot of birdie opportunities and converted most of those chances. Except for a few erratic holes, I was quite consistent and composed through the day.” He said
Among the 12 players bunched in tied fourth at 68 were three-time winner Mukesh Kumar, two-time winner Om Prakash Chouhan, both from Mhow, Madhya Pradesh, as well as Olympian and 2019 winner Udayan Mane, who hails from Pune and is currently third in the PGTI Order of Merit and Gurugram’s Veer Ahlawat, who is currently eighth in the PGTI Order of Merit.
PGTI Order of Merit leader Karandeep Kochhar of Chandigarh was in tied 28th at a score of 71 along with Indian golf legend Jyoti Randhawa and Jamshedpur-based Karan Taunk.
Chikkarangappa, currently second in the PGTI Order of Merit shot a 72 to be tied 37th.
Kurush Heerjee, the second player from Jamshedpur in this field, carded a 74 to be tied 52nd.