Gaurav Ghei rolled back the years as he brought in a card of six-under-66 in the first round to share lead with Shamim Khan at the PGTI's 2017 season-opener, here today.
Ghei is the first Indian to appear at a Major back in 1997 when he played the British Open.
Noida's Gaurav Pratap Singh and Kolkata's Shankar Das too had a good outing on day one of the new season as they posted scores of 67 to be one off the pace in tied third.
Ghei, a three-time Asian Tour winner, had to earn his PGTI card through the qualifying school this year as he had finished outside the top-60 in 2016. The seasoned professional brought all his experience to the fore to strike a masterly 66 in Noida on a windy day.
On a day that also saw bright sunshine but colder weather than expected, Ghei had a disastrous start when he double-bogeyed the 12th. However, he rallied with eight birdies thereafter that included six conversions from a range of 10 to 20 feet. He also drained a 30-footer to save par from a difficult position on the seventh.
"It's one of my best rounds in recent memory. I guess it was one of those days when all the putts seemed to find the hole. I had a bad start with the double-bogey but came back really well," Ghei said.
"I've not had great results over the last three seasons on the PGTI, so I came here with no expectations. But this round provides me the ideal start to the new season," added Ghei.
Shamim Khan, who in 2016, narrowly missed out on winning his second PGTI Order of Merit crown, before finally settling for second place in the rankings, carried on from where he left in the last season.
Shamim breezed through the first seven holes with four birdies against his name which included two long conversions. The experienced 38-year-old, a winner of 12 titles, added three more birdies at the expense of a solitary bogey in the second half of his round.
Shankar Das, another former PGTI Order of Merit champion, like Shamim, dazzled with four birdies on the back-nine before stumbling with bogeys on the third and fifth, both par-3s. However, he came roaring back, closing the day with a hat-trick of birdies on the last three holes.
Gaurav Pratap Singh used the local knowledge to his advantage at his home course as he returned a 67 which featured six birdies and a lone bogey. Gaurav, a former winner on the PGTI, closed the day with a flurry of birdies on the seventh, eighth and ninth.
Australia's Kunal Bhasin, Chandigarh's Ajeetesh Sandhu, Abhinav Lohan of Faridabad and Gurgaon-based Pranav Kaul were bunched together in tied fifth with scores of 68.
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