Dwivedi leads round one of Kensville Open

Samarth Dwivedi shot a five- under-67 to take the lead after the opening round of the Kensville Open 2017, presented by PGTI, here today.

Kolkata's Shankar Das, Nagpur's Moinuddin Malak and Delhi's Honey Baisoya were tied second with matching scores of four-under-68 at the Rs. 40 lakh event, being played at the Kensville Golf & Country Club here.

Dwivedi knocked in six birdies at the expense of a solitary bogey.

Playing only his second season as a professional, the 25 -year-old had a steady start as he made pars on the first seven holes before coming up with his first birdie on the eighth after landing it close.
 

Dwivedi, who has two top-10s to his credit in the 2017 PGTI season, picked up the pace on the back-nine. He birdied the 10th and followed that up with three more birdies in a row from the 13th to the 15th.

He dropped his first shot of the day on the 17th but more than made up for it with a spectacular birdie conversion from 20 feet on the 18th, which gave him the sole lead.

Dwivedi, who has claimed three top-10 results since turning professional last year, said, "I started off solid, hitting greens but missing putts. But once I got my first birdie and was in red figures, I knew had the momentum.

"The key was the back to back pars on the first seven holes. Generally, when I miss birdies I tend to get frustrated and drop shots. Today, I just stayed calm and let the first birdie come without dropping a shot."

Malak was off to a dream start, making birdies on his first two holes -- the 10th and 11th. Malak, who just missed two greens in the round, made the turn at a strong three- under.

Returning from a six-month break due to a back injury, he had a rock-solid front-nine with a birdie and eight pars.

Das produced an eagle and five birdies against three bogeys during his opening round.

Baisoya was four-under through 17 holes before his birdie putt from 10 feet lipped out on the 18th. He thus missed out on the joint lead and had to settle for a share of second place.

Noida golfers Amardip Sinh Malik and Arjun Singh Chaudhri were tied for fifth at three-under-69.

Bengaluru's Khalin Joshi was in tied seventh at two- under-70, while PGTI Order of Merit leader Shamim Khan of Delhi occupied tied 19th place at even-par-72.