Rashid on a roll, blasts personal best 11-under-61 for first round lead

 Rashid Khan

New Delhi, February 26, 2014: Rashid Khan began his 2014 Asian Tour season with a bang as he recorded a personal best of 11-under-61 in the opening round of the SAIL-SBI Open presented by Incredible India Ministry of Tourism. Rashid’s first round exploits at his home course, the Delhi Golf Club, helped him establish a daunting five-stroke lead at the US$ 300,000 event co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour and PGTI. PGTI member Mithun Perera of Sri Lanka fired a six-under-66 to be tied second along with Japan’s Akinori Tani.

Rashid, the 2013 Rolex Rankings champion on the PGTI, was off to a flying start with four birdies on the front-nine. His solid hitting saw him land the ball within five to 10 feet of the pin on several occasions. The 23-year-old went one better on the back-nine as he picked up an eagle on the 14th and five more birdies. Khan sank a 20-footer for birdie on the 13th and followed that up with a 14-feet eagle putt on the par-5 14th. He thus ended up one short of the course record of 12-under-60 set by Liang Wen-Chong of China at the 2008 Indian Open.

“I didn’t leave myself too many long putts today as my hitting was spot-on. I didn’t focus too much on the leaderboard but just played my game. I’m delighted to have improved on my previous single-round best of nine-under which I shot in Sri Lanka earlier this month. I made a few changes to my swing during the practice round on Monday under the guidance of my fellow professional and senior Ashok Kumar. The changes have helped me hit the fade shot better,” said Rashid, who finished runner-up at the 2013 SAIL-SBI Open after losing in a playoff to Anirban Lahiri.

Rashid went on to add, “This is my first year as a card holder on the Asian Tour and it’s great to start the season in this manner. Winning a tournament on the Asian Tour is my main goal this year. The Order of Merit win on the PGTI last year gave me a lot of confidence. I’ve improved with every passing year and I want to do the same in 2014.”

Mithun Perera, a winner of three successive titles on the PGTI this month, continued his good form on Wednesday. He started off with a birdie on the 10thwhere his second shot landed within a few inches of the pin. Perera sank two more birdies and a bogey on the back-nine to make the turn at two-under. The 27-year-old gained four shots on the last three holes as he drained a 35-feet eagle putt on the eighth and made birdies on the seventh and ninth.

Perera said, “I had a really good start from the 10th hole, the second shot into the green was a given birdie. Six under in my first event of the 2014 season, I’m happy. This is my best at the DGC. I need to keep it going for the next three days. Last three weeks have been so good for me. Every week I’ve had eight-under rounds and I had the confidence to bring into this week’s tournament.”

Bangladesh’s Md Siddikur Rahman, another PGTI member, returned a five-under-67 to occupy joint fourth place along with Scott Barr of Australia.

There are seven Indians among the 10 golfers in tied sixth place at four-under-68. The seven Indians in tied sixth are Sanjay Kumar, C Muniyappa, Digvijay Singh, Shamim Khan, SSP Chowrasia, Chikkarangappa S and Abhijit Singh Chadha.