Gurgaon-based golfers Himmat Singh Rai and Abhishek Kuhar shared the round one lead at the 13th TATA Open Golf that teed off here today.
While Himmat fired a five-under-66 at the Golmuri Golf Club today, Abhishek shot a five-under-67 at the Beldih Golf Club.
Seven golfers were tied for third place with rounds of four-under-67 at Golmuri.
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On Thursday, one half of the field played 18 holes at the par-72 Beldih Golf Club, while the golfers in the other half completed their rounds at the par-71 Golmuri Golf Club.
Both halves of the field will switch venues (those who played at Beldih on day one, play eighteen holes at Golmuri on day two and vice-versa) tomorrow.
19-year-old Abhishek Kuhar, who was placed 67th in the Rolex Rankings as of now, chipped-in for birdie on the fifth and landed it within six feet for birdies on the third, sixth and seventh. He bogeyed the ninth to make the turn at three-under.
Kuhar, who missed the cut at his first outing at the TATA Open last year, sank two long birdie putts on the 12th and 14th to end the day with a five-under.
Himmat chipped-in for birdie on the third and also picked up strokes from a range of seven feet on the first and sixth. Rai, a winner on the Asian Tour, recovered well from the bunker for another birdie on the ninth.
Himmat, making his debut at the TATA Open, rolled it in from 10 feet and 20 feet for birdies on the 14th and 15th respectively. The only blemish on Himmat's card was the double-bogey on the 16th that came as a result of him finding the water hazard.
The Delhi-based professional, currently placed 69th in the Rolex Rankings, produced an accurate tee shot on the par-3 17th for a tap-in birdie to close the day at five-under.
Seven players, all of whom played at Golmuri, occupied joint third place at four-under-67. These seven players were Mandeo Singh Pathania of Greater Noida, Om Prakash Chouhan of Mhow, Meerut's Sudhir Sharma, Sri Lankan K Prabagaran, Gurgaon's Shubhankar Sharma and Delhi golfers Karan Vasudeva and Ikramuddin Shah. Shubhankar made an eagle-two on the 12th during his opening round.
Jamshedpur's Karan Taunk was tied 10th after his round of three-under-69 at Beldih.
Digvijay Singh of the DLF Golf & Country Club sank two eagles, on the 12th and 16th, in his first round of two-under-70 at Beldih. He ended the day in tied 14th place.
Defending champion M Dharma of Bangalore returned a one-under-70 at Golmuri to be placed tied 22nd. Navtez Singh of Jamshedpur was also in tied 22nd after his round of 70 at Golmuri.
