Gaganjeet Bhullar missed the final birdie by a whisker but managed to finish sole fourth with a six-under 66 on the opening day of the Thai Golf Championships here today.
Bhullar had seven birdies and a bogey and was two shots behind leader Czech-born German Alex Cejka, who cracked a flawless eight-under 64 to lead by two.
In between Cejka and Bhullar were US Open champion Justin Rose and young Thai Arnond Vangvanij, who shot 65 each on the first day of the USD one million Asian Tour tournament, which features eight of the world's top-50 players.
There was more good news for Indians as Sujjan Singh, playing on a medical exemption this year, showed he is on his path to recovery with a four-under 68.
Daniel Chopra, another one with Indian connection, carded five-under 67 despite going to the very edge of the water on the 18th. He rolled up his trousers, stepped into the lake and took a shot to come out with a bogey.
While Bhullar and Sujjan were in sizzling form, the rest of the Indian contingent had mixed luck.
Chinnasawmay Muniyappa, also playing on medical exemption shot 71 as did Anirban Lahiri to be tied for 22nd, while Himmat Rai and Abhinav Lohan were even par 72 to be tied 39th.
Jyoti Randhawa (73) at 53rd, Jeev Milkha Singh (74) at 70th and SSP Chowrasia (75) at 92nd would need much better rounds to get into the weekend, while Ajeetesh Sandhu (76), Digvijay Singh (78) and Abhijit Chadha (81) will have to play out of their skins to make the cut.
Starting in the second group from the 10th tee, Bhullar looked set to go to seven-under but the putt on the ninth, his last hole, dodged the cup.
"It ditched me in the end. I thought it would break from left-to-right, but with 54 more holes to go just keep your head down and look for the opportunities," he said.
Bhullar has had a topsy-turvy run this season. He was dead last at the ISPS HANDA World Cup of Golf in Australia, but won the Indonesia Open the following week. He then missed the halfway cut at the Hong Kong Open last week and now said, "I'm due for a good week.
