Southpaw Adil Bir Singh, playing at his home course, returned an even par 72 to lead the field by two strokes on the first day of the Usha IGU Punjab Juniors Golf Championship here Tuesday.
S. Abhishek Shankar of Hyderabad was second, having finished with a card of two over 74 at the Chandigarh Golf Club. Karandeep Kochar came in third with a score of three over 75, a stroke behind Abhishek and three behind Adil Bir.
Adil Bir sank three birdies on the front nine without dropping a shot but four bogeys and a birdie on the back nine, meant that a sub-par round eluded him by a whisker.
Other pre-tournament favourites like Feroz Singh Garewal, Tapendra Ghai and Pukhraj Singh Gill finished with identical scores of five over 77 to stay in the hunt, five strokes separating them from the tournament leader.
