Abhijit Chadha sparkles in Jakarta

Abhijit Chadha shot a hole-in-one at the 15th to catapult himself to T3 at the Indonesian Masters. Chadha shot 67 in the first round.

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Edited by Anand Datla

 

April 23, 2015: Abhijit Chadha was lying T3 after the first round of the Indonesian Masters, after he shot five under 67 at the Royale Jakarta Golf Club. Chinese Taipei’s Chan Shih-chang showed his mettle as he opened his account with a six-under-par 66 to share the first round lead with Denmark’s Thomas Bjorn at the US$750,000 CIMB Niaga Indonesian Masters on Thursday.
Bjorn, who is seeking his first win in Asia, overcame the hot and humid conditions at the Royale Jakarta Golf Club by trading seven birdies against one bogey to tie for the lead in his debut appearance in the Asian Tour event.

 

Rashid Khan also had a solid outing on Thursday, shooting a 69 to place in tied seventh at the end of the first round. Khalin Joshi was at T16 after he made a 71 on Thursday.

 

Himmat Rai shot 72, while Chiragh Kumar made a 73. The rest of the Indians had a day to forget – Gaganjeet Bhullar made 75, while Angad Cheema, Rahil Gangjee, Arjun Atwal and S Chikkarangappa each shot a 78 to nearly throw away any chances of a good weekend in Jakarta.

 

Singapore-based Australian Unho Park rediscovered his putting touch by posting a 67 to share third place with India’s Abhijit Chadha, who had the honour of holing the first hole-in-one at the par-three 15 this week.

 

Former world number one Lee Westwood of England returned with a 69 to share seventh place with six other players that also featured Thailand’s Thaworn Wiratchant, India’s Rashid Khan and Philippines’ Miguel Tabuena.

 

One of the most successful players on the Asian Development Tour (ADT) with four wins, Chan showed his class and composure in his first start on the Asian Tour this year. “I hope to bring my wealth of experience, playing and winning on the ADT to the Asian Tour. It’s definitely a big step up for me and I’m looking forward to my breakthrough,” he said.

 

Bjorn, who boasts 21 professional victories worldwide including 15 on the European Tour, is also upbeat of landing his first win in Asia after overcoming the early morning humidity. “I played pretty solid and I got onto a nice run in my back-nine which kind of brought the round to a really good score. It was humid but nice in the morning especially the first 10 to 11 holes. You’ve got to focus really hard and not let your guard down here,” said the big Dane.

 

Chadha, who secured his Tour card at Qualifying School earlier this year in Thailand, also received a timely confidence boost when he aced the 15th hole with his six-iron.

 

The hole-in-one set the Indian on his way to a promising start when he would go on to mark his card with four birdies and one bogey.

 

“It was good today. I started off well by getting a hole-in-one on the 15th and that really kept myself in it. I hit a six-iron, aimed straight at the flag and it went right into the hole.

 

“I’ve made a hole-in-one in my career but this is really special as I’ve made it on the Asian Tour. That gave me lots of confidence not only for the rest of the round but the entire week ahead,” said Chadha.

 

Select Scores:
66 – CHAN Shih-chang (TPE), Thomas BJORN (DEN)
67 – Abhijit CHADHA (IND), Unho PARK (AUS)
68 – Simon GRIFFITHS (ENG), Chapchai NIRAT (THA)
69 – Rashid KHAN (IND), Lee WESTWOOD (ENG)
71 – Khalin JOSHI (IND)
72 – Himmat RAI (IND)
73 – Chiragh KUMAR (IND), Daniel CHOPRA (SWE), Y.E. YANG (KOR)

 

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