Bengaluru: The lead was set at six-under-66 on the opening day of the Rs. 1 crore Bengaluru Open Golf Championship sponsored by Karnataka Tourism, on Wednesday.
The five players who shared the top honours on day one included Bengaluru’s Chikkarangappa, PGTI Order of Merit leader Shamim Khan of Delhi, Himmat Rai who also hails from Delhi, Chandigarh’s Sujjan Singh and Sri Lankan Anura Rohana.
Local favourite Chikkarangappa’s move to change his putter ahead of the event worked out well for him as he had a fruitful day on the greens despite some erratic hitting. After an early bogey on the second, Chikka drained seven birdies to post an impressive number. The Asian Tour regular chipped-in for birdie on the 13th and then recovered well from the trees and sank a 15-footer for birdie on the 16th.
Chikka, a winner of 10 professional titles including two on the Asian Development Tour (ADT), said, “My hitting was all over but my putting gave me a lot of confidence. After a gap of 18 months, I finally went back to the putter that I used for almost 10 years. I have enjoyed all my success with this putter barring the win at KGA last year.
Sujjan Singh, playing through fever, was the only one among the leading pack with a bogey-free round. Sujjan, another Indian winner on the Asian Development Tour (ADT), began the week with a terrific par save from the bunker on the opening 10th hole. That set the ball rolling for him as he secured six birdies thereafter to tie for the lead.
Shamim Khan too enjoyed a brilliant start to the tournament by posting his best round at the KGA. The highlight of his round was the 35-feet birdie conversion on the 13th. Shamim, eyeing a second PGTI Order of Merit title this year, enjoyed a final flourish with a couple of birdies on the last three holes.
Himmat Rai, a former Asian Tour winner, was one-under through the front-nine but then had an exceptional run of six birdies from the 10th through the 16th. He was looking good for the sole lead on the 18th but ended up dropping a shot there after a pulling his approach to the left.
Anura Rohana had yet another good outing at one of his favourite venues. Rohana, a winner on the PGTI earlier this year, mixed an eagle, five birdies and a bogey to be part of the joint lead on day one. Jyoti Randhawa, one of the star attractions of the tournament, returned an even-par-72 to be placed tied 42nd.
