Chiragh Kumar lights up Queens Cup

Report by Anand Datla

June 17, 2015: The Indian flag is flying near the top of the leaderboard in the early stages of the Queens Cup in Bangkok. Chiragh Kumar is lying at three under at the end of his first round, just two behind the leader Atthaphon Sriboonkaew, who shot a fine 66. Mithun Perera joined the lead when he made a birdie at the 15th to go five under through 15 holes of the first round. But he gave away a shot just before close to slip back into second.

Khalin Joshi shot an even par 71 to slot himself inside the top twenty through the early stages of the event. Digvijay Singh, Rashid Khan and Angad Cheema were all over par in the first round. Singh shot a 72, but Khan and Cheema were a further shot behind at the end of their first round.

Kumar needed 26 shots on the green for his score of 68. He made 9 of 14 fairways and hit 11 of 18 greens in regulation through a satisfying round of golf. Kumar made a bogey at the second, suffering an early stutter, but recovered well to complete the front nine in 35 shots.

He was even better on his way to the clubhouse – taking only 33 shots including three birdies and a bogey.

I played well today. My putting was good. I played with Atthaphon (Sriboonkaew) and he was in his top form. I managed to rub off some good vibes from him. It definitely helps when someone in your group is playing well. I am happy with my round. “I made a couple of good saves and I made a couple of good putts. The longest putt was the 15-footer for birdie on the 10^th hole. I hit the ball pretty good,” said an obviously pleased Kumar. “The wind was swirling out there. It was really windy throughout the round. It was so windy that you can’t really tell which direction the wind is coming from.”

“Considering all that, I think I really played well today. You need to hit good tee shots and try to find as many fairways as you can to play well here. You can really get into trouble if you hit a bad drive. I played three events so far and it was pretty decent for me. I won’t say I have played well but I have been consistent. I am looking to play well this week and hopefully do better in the second half of the season. I will take it easy for now and we will see how it goes tomorrow.”

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