Chikka shoots 69 in blustery weather, lies second in Taipei

Indian golfer S Chikkarangappa, looking for his maiden Asian Tour title, shot a three-under 69 amid blustery conditions to be tied second after the first round of the Yeangder Heritage here today.
Chikka, a close friend of Anirban Lahiri, is a shot behind leader Jake Higginbottom of Australia (68) at the National Golf Country Club.
Shiv Kapur was also in Top-10 with a round of one-under 71 and Khalin Joshi shot an even-par 72 to be Tied-17th.
Chiragh Kumar (73) was Tied-34th, while things were not so good for the rest.
Rahil Gangjee and Rashid Khan, with 75 each, were Tied- 63rd. Shubhankar Sharma and Himmat Rai, with 76 each, were Tied-83rd while Sujjan Singh and Arjun Prasad, with 79 each, and Honey Baisoya were even further down.

Chikka struggled in the cold weather early in the round but three birdies on his homeward nine lifted him to a share of second place. He may well have been in lead but for two putts that he missed from just two feet each.

"Looking at the weather, I'm quite surprised I shot a 69. I had a great day. I putted well and made sure I didn't make any mistakes," he said.
"When we played the practice rounds it was bright and sunny but today two layers are not good enough. To be honest, I was laughing at myself because I missed two 2-footer putts. I was standing over the ball and the wind really blew at me and I pulled my putts," he added.

Chikka is Tied-second with Danthai Boonma of Thailand, Sung Mao-chang of Chinese Taipei and 18-year-old Sangpil Yoon of Korea.
Indian scores:
T-2 S Chikkrangappa (69)
T-10 Shiv Kapur (71)
T-17 Khalin Joshi (72)
T-34 Chiragh Kumar (73)
T-63 Rahil Gangjee, Rashid Khan (75)
T-83 Shubhankar Sharma, Himmat Rai (76) T-122 Sujjan Singh, Arjun Prasad (79)
T-140 Honey Baisoya (82).