C Muniyappa of Bangalore
Pune, January 21, 2014: C Muniyappa of Bangalore
equalled the course record with a sizzling eight-under-63 to establish a
three-stroke lead in round one of the PGTI’s Final Qualifying Stage for the
2014 season being held at the Poona Club Golf Course in Pune. K Raghav Bhandari
of Chandigarh
shot a five-under-66 to be placed second.
Muniyappa equaled the course record, previously set by Vijay
Kumar, Chikkarangappa and the late S Madaiah , with
his opening round of 63 that included nine birdies and a bogey. The Bangalore lad, a former
Indian Open champion, drove the green on the ninth and 17th, both par-4s, to
set up birdies. He also converted a 15-footer for birdie on the eighth.
Muniyappa said, “I was in great form with the driver. I
capitalized on two of the shorter par-4s by driving the greens. I just kept
taking my chances today. I’m almost back to full recovery from my back injury
which had troubled me over a long period of time. Equaling the course record in
the first round is a huge morale-booster.”
Rahul Bakshi, another Chandigarh-based golfer, was a stroke
behind Bhandari in third position.
Saurabh Bhaduri of Pune is in joint fourth place at
one-under-70 along with Delhi ’s Gulfam, Chandigarh ’s KPS Sekhon, Raja Sardar of Kolkata and Jamshedpur ’s Karan Taunk.
The top 80 players (+ ties) will make the cut after round two
of the Final Qualifying Stage. At the end of round four only the top 38 players
will earn full cards for the 2014 PGTI season.
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