Report by Anand Datla
April 07, 2015: On a warm and windy day in Ahmedabad, where scoring was difficult, Amardip Malik shot into the lead with a 5-under 67. He was followed in second by S Chikkarangappa, Sujjan Singh and M Dharma. Each of those three men reached the clubhouse with a 3-under 69 at the Kensville Golf & Country Club. The afternoon groups are yet to come in and we shall update you soon as we have the scores from the first round of the PGTI Players Championship.
In five outings this season, Amardip has finished inside the top 20 in each of the events, including three top ten finishes. He played a solid round of golf today to take a two shot lead after 18 holes. The 29 year old from Meerut shot four birdies, an eagle and a bogey to account for his 67.
Last week’s runner-up, Chikka continued his good vein of form to shoot a 69 and join a three way tie for second. The 21 year old golfer from Bengaluru has finished inside the top 10 in each of the four starts this season. On Tuesday, he shot five birdies and two bogeys – one on either stretch – to sign off at three under for the first round.
Sujjan Singh missed the cut last week at Kalhaar, but played with great resolve to produce a 69. In fact the 34 year old from Chandigarh was lying five under through 14, after he made four straight birdies from the 11th hole. Unfortunately though, he gave away shots at the 15th and 17th to slip down to three under.
Dharma had the privilege of the owning the only blemishless card of the first round. The 29 year old continued from where he finished at Kalhaar with yet another fine round of golf. The KGA golfer had finished 8th last week and is looking good for another top 10 finish if he can keep his card clean as he did today. Dharma made birdies at the 2nd, 4th and 6th holes.
There were four men tied in fifth after 18 holes – Anura Rohana, Angad Cheema, Kunaal Bhatia and Feroz Ali Mollah each scored a 70 in the first round.
