Pune, November 7, 2012: Pune’s Rajiv Datar was off to a
flying start at the PGTI Players Championship presented by Poona Club Ltd.
Datar fired a bogey-free five-under-66 in round one to share the lead with Sri
Lankan Mithun Perera and Kolkata’s Shankar Das. Rahul Bajaj of Noida, Sanjay
Kumar of Lucknow and Chandigarh ’s Gurbaaz Mann are one shot behind
the joint leaders in tied fourth place.
Rajiv Datar began well at his home course as he sank a 20-feet birdie putt on the third. He then landed his chip within a couple of feet of the pin on the sixth for his second birdie of the day. The 34-year-old Datar found the green in two shots to set up a birdie on the par-5 seventh hole before driving the green on the par-4 14th hole to pick up another stroke. Rajiv’s fifth and final birdie of the day came on the 17th where he converted a 15-feet putt.
Datar said, “My hitting was good. I made 15 greens in regulation today. The putts also rolled in for me. I suffered a knee injury last year so could not play too many events in the first half of this season. Thus it was very important for me to post a good score in
order to get my confidence going. The injury is much better now and I hope to capitalize on this great start at my home course.”
Mithun Perera missed a couple of chip-putts on the second and fourth that resulted in bogeys. He more than made up for that with a 15-feet eagle putt on the seventh and birdies on the sixth, eighth, 11th and 13th. He landed it extremely close on the sixth and 11th and holed a 20-footer on the 13th. The Colombo-based professional’s bogey on the
14th was negated by birdies on the 17th and 18th.
“I like the conditions here as this course is a lot like my home course inColombo . I hit it well
and found the centre of the fairway on many occasions. However, my short game
left a lot to be desired as my chipping was poor and I also missed some short
birdie putts.
Nonetheless, I’m quite happy to have shot a really low first round score in a long time,” said Perera.
Shankar Das, a winner at the Poona Club Golf Course last year, also shot a bogey-free 66 in round one to be the joint leader along with Rajiv Datar and Mithun Perera.
Rahul Bajaj of Noida, Sanjay Kumar ofLucknow
and Chandigarh ’s
Gurbaaz Mann are one stroke adrift of the lead in tied fourth place.
Rajiv Datar began well at his home course as he sank a 20-feet birdie putt on the third. He then landed his chip within a couple of feet of the pin on the sixth for his second birdie of the day. The 34-year-old Datar found the green in two shots to set up a birdie on the par-5 seventh hole before driving the green on the par-4 14th hole to pick up another stroke. Rajiv’s fifth and final birdie of the day came on the 17th where he converted a 15-feet putt.
Datar said, “My hitting was good. I made 15 greens in regulation today. The putts also rolled in for me. I suffered a knee injury last year so could not play too many events in the first half of this season. Thus it was very important for me to post a good score in
order to get my confidence going. The injury is much better now and I hope to capitalize on this great start at my home course.”
Mithun Perera missed a couple of chip-putts on the second and fourth that resulted in bogeys. He more than made up for that with a 15-feet eagle putt on the seventh and birdies on the sixth, eighth, 11th and 13th. He landed it extremely close on the sixth and 11th and holed a 20-footer on the 13th. The Colombo-based professional’s bogey on the
14th was negated by birdies on the 17th and 18th.
“I like the conditions here as this course is a lot like my home course in
Nonetheless, I’m quite happy to have shot a really low first round score in a long time,” said Perera.
Shankar Das, a winner at the Poona Club Golf Course last year, also shot a bogey-free 66 in round one to be the joint leader along with Rajiv Datar and Mithun Perera.
Rahul Bajaj of Noida, Sanjay Kumar of
Photo caption: Pune’s Rajiv Datar in action at Poona Club on November 7, 2012.
Press release
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