Hyderabad: Bengaluru’s M. Dharma riding high since his victory on the PGTI in December last year shot a top-class seven-under-64 to seize the opening round lead at the Golconda Masters being held at the Hyderabad Golf Association (HGA) course.
Sri Lankan N. Thangaraja, Kolkata’s Shankar Das and Panchkula-based Angad Cheema were in joint second with scores of six-under-65.
Dharma brought in an error-free card of seven-under on Thursday that gave him the early advantage. Dharma tapped-in for his first birdie on the third before picking up two more shots on the sixth and 10th, both par-5s. The 31-year-old then enjoyed his best stretch of the day with the putter as he sank four consecutive birdies from the 14th to the 17th, all from a range of 12 to 25 feet.
Thangaraja braved an injured knee to produce seven birdies against a lone bogey in the first round. Thangaraja wasn’t driving at his best due to the injury but still struck it well enough to set up five short birdie putts which he went on to convert. He also chipped-in for birdie on the 11th after landing his tee shot over the green.
Angad Cheema’s flawless 65 placed him tied second. Cheema, a former winner on the PGTI, scored on all four par-5s, making a 12-feet eagle conversion on the 17th and birdies on the 10th, sixth and eighth.
Former PGTI Order of Merit champion Shankar Das too took a share of second as he mixed seven birdies with a bogey. Shankar missed a hole-in-one by a whisker on the 16th where his tee shot lipped out after almost finding the pin.
Young guns Karandeep Kochhar of Chandigarh and Shubham Narain of Delhi were off to good starts with scores of five-under-66 that placed them tied fifth along with Bangladesh’s Md Zamal Hossain Mollah. Former champion Harendra Gupta of Chandigarh was in tied 71st.
