On the point: Yashas Chandra of Mysore performed brilliantly in the first round.
Chandigarh’s Ranjit Singh once again showed his talent
Rookies Shaurya Bhattacharya (Delhi), Ranjeet Singh (Chandigarh) and Yashas Chandra (Mysore) outclassed powerful players in scorching heat to take a three-way lead on the first day of the 2nd KGISL Coimbatore Open powered by Prima Donna at the Coimbatore Golf Club course here on Wednesday.
The trio shot six-under 66 on a day that was notoriously unfriendly to golfers. Even the best players had to sweat and toil in extreme humidity. Unexpectedly, the westerly winds that usually pose a challenge were calm. And that helped them as they kept their cool and used their ability to finish the day on a high.
The veteran Ranjeet found early success on the 12th hole by chipping-in from a bunker for birdie. Thereafter, he kept up the momentum, getting three more birdies by landing the ball within five feet and birdies on the fourth and ninth holes from 10 feet and 25 feet respectively.
Meanwhile, Shaurya, after an early bogey on the second hole, made a strong comeback with four birdies on the front-nine. He made up for his bogey on the 11th hole with a brilliant eagle conversion from 25 feet on the 13th hole and two more birdies from the range of 10 to 17 feet on the back-nine.
Yashas, on the other hand, had some attractive approach shots and a superb tee shot on the par-3 fourth in his first round.
Michele Ortolani of Italy and Milind Soni of Hyderabad finished joint fourth.
Coimbatore amateur J Vignesh carded 77 to be tied for 102nd, while local professional Siddharth Sharathram is one shot behind to be tied for 107th.