Chiragh Kumar is India’s man to watch at Panasonic Open R1

Mithun Perera and Chiragh Kumar led an India-Sri Lanka party on the first day of the fifth edition of the US$400,000 Panasonic Open India on Thursday, as they brought home cards of six-under 66 and five-under 67, but a Thai trio led by the veteran Thaworn Wiratchant (68) is threatening to break into the revelry as the week progresses.

Perera, who has five wins on Indian PGTI Tour, but none on the Asian Tour, led a Sri Lankan quartet, all of whom are in Top-10, while there are six Indians in Top-16 including Chiragh in second, Abhijit Chadha (68) in  fourth and four others, S Chikka, winner of a second ADT title last week, Khalin Joshi, runner-up at the Bangladesh Open this year, Shankar Das, five-time winner on Indian Tour, and veteran eight-time winner on Asian Tour Jyoti Randhawa, shared the ninth place at 69.

Keeping touch with this group of six Indians and four Lankans, was Siddikur Rehman (68), who ranks DGC as his favourite all-time course, having recorded innumerable Top-10s here besides one of his two Asian Tour wins here; Ireland’s Niall Turner (69) and Indonesian George Granadata (69).

Perera, whose father Nandasena was also a fine golfer in the 1980s, birdied four of his closing five holes to take the lead in the opening round at six-under-par 66 on Thursday. The ever-smiling and bubbly Sri Lankan, who is aiming to become the first Sri Lankan to win on the Asian Tour title, fired seven birdies to hold a one-shot advantage over an in-form Chiragh Kumar and Sattaya Supupramai of Thailand, who missed a five-foot birdie on the last hole at the Delhi Golf Club (DGC).

Perera, who lost in a three-way play-off in this event last year, turned in 34 highlighted by two opening birdies from close range. He enjoyed a late flourish with birdies on holes 14, 15, 17 and 18 to grab the outright lead.

“It is nice to start with two gimmie birdies. That gave me a lot of confidence,” said Perera, who holed 24 putts today. “I kept the ball in play and that’s the key to a good score here.”

The 28-year-old, added, “I had a good round because my driver worked and I holed some good putts. I’ll try and keep to this rhythm in the next three rounds. I always have good confidence when I’m here because of my accuracy,” said Perera. “I played the regulation game. That’s the key on this course. I tried to play my ball on the fairway and green and that helped me to a good score. You need to keep the ball in play to stay out of trouble here.”

Chiragh launched his title bid by shooting six birdies to build on his good form after finishing tied second at the Macao Open three weeks ago.

“I got off to a good start with three straight birdies and that gave me some momentum. I made some good putts and could have holed a few more. It was nice to finish with a 10-foot birdie on the last hole. Actually all the birdies were good,” laughed Kumar.

The 31-year-old Sattaya, who played without a driver in his golf bag, fired his best score at DGC but he was disappointed not to take a share of the lead after missing a close range birdie putt on the last hole.

Bangladeshi Siddikur was even par at the turn but four birdies on his homeward nine including a curling birdie on 18 kept him within striking distance of his close friend Perera.

“It wasn’t a bad start! I enjoyed my day. The fairways are soft so it is playing slightly longer but I made some good putts and that helped. It is nice to see Mithun leading. I think all the accurate players will do well here,” said Siddikur, a two-time Asian Tour winner.

In the morning, Thangaraja shared the early first round lead with Thailand’s Thitiphun Chuayprakong with four-under-par 68 each. Thangaraja, 34, fired seven birdies against three bogeys to tie with Thitiphun.