Defending champion Feroz Ali Mollah fired a three-under-69
to be placed tied fourth along with Om Prakash Chouhan, M Dharma, Amardip Sinh
Malik, Deepinder Singh Kullar and Dipankar Kaushal.
Ajeetesh Sandhu, currently second in the PGTI Order of
Merit, carried forward the momentum from the season’s previous events with a
flawless 67. Sandhu, who has one win and two other top-5s in his four starts so
far this season, picked up his first shot of the week with a 20-feet conversion
on the fourth. The 28-year-old added four more birdies to his card thanks to
two 10-feet conversions and a couple of quality chip-putts.
Ajeetesh, who also has a partial card on the Japan Golf Tour
this year, said, “It’s been a great first half for me on the PGTI so far. I
also played well in my first event on the Japan Golf Tour last week. I battled
extremely tough weather conditions at the tournament played near Osaka in Japan .
It was cold, windy and it rained. But I did well to make the cut and finish 50th.
“The conditions in Kochi
this week are exactly the opposite of what I encountered last week. In that
sense, I think I’ve made a pretty good start. The CIAL Golf Club is playing
better and tougher than ever before. The fairways and greens are softer this
time around and the course is playing to its true yardage. The trees have grown
now and there is greater risk on missing the fairways.
“A couple of good weeks on the PGTI would give me the
much-needed boost before I return to Japan for a string of events beginning in
June.”
Shivendra Singh Sisodia was part of the first round joint
lead at the CIAL Golf Club for the second year running. Sisodia, playing at one
of his favourite courses, began with three birdies on the first four holes. He
dropped a stroke on the fifth but rallied with three more birdies on the back
nine.
Sisodia said, “I had started the week with a four-under last
year and this year too I’ve had a solid start. I really like the layout here. I
feel long and narrow courses such as this one give me the freedom to hit it
long as driving has always been my strength.
“I was quite accurate with the irons today having landed it
within three feet of the pin on five occasions. That helped set up a lot of
birdies for me. I played my first full season on the PGTI last year and had a
decent 39th place finish in the Order of Merit. This year the aim is to
improve on my position in the money list and win an event. Hopefully, I can
build on this start and post a top finish this week.”
Sudhir Sharma, like Sisodia, also produced six birdies and a
bogey on day one, to take a share of the lead. Sudhir’s round featured two
birdie conversions from 20 to 25 feet and a missed eagle opportunity from five
feet on the 16th.
“My fourth place finish at Kochi last year is my best result on the PGTI
till date. So I’m quite confident playing at this venue. I drove well today,
hitting 13 out of 14 fairways. I’m working on my returning to my old swing
after a year’s gap and things are beginning to fall in place for me now,” said
Sudhir.
M Anand was the highest-placed among the three local
professionals in the field. He shot a 79 to be tied 102nd. The other two
Kochi-based professionals, Vivek V S (81) and Madesh K (85) occupied tied 115th place
and tied 122nd place respectively.
Patna lad Aman Raj struck 2 under 70 to finish the day tied 10 along with 7 other players.
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