August 28, 2014: SSP Chowrasia continued his good run on the European Tour with a solid performance in the opening round of the 71° Open D’Italia. The 362nd ranked Indian produced a three-under 69 to finish the first day in a group of eleven men tied for fifteenth. Gaganjeet Bhullar made a 70 to lie right behind his compatriot in an even more crowded bunch of 17 golfers. The other two Indians – Shiv Kapur and Jeev Milkha Singh – though had a disappointing day on the course slipping to 82nd and 130th to leave themselves a massive battle just to stay on for the weekend. Italians had plenty to cheer, as the home fans were treated to a 66 by Francesco Molinari, who is tied for first with Bernd Wiesberger.
Chowrasia enjoyed two top 40 finishes and top 10 in his last three events – Russian Open (T38), Made in Denmark (T9) and Czech Masters (T39) – and could well be heading for another strong week on the evidence of his first round effort. Chowrasia made four birdies and a bogey in his 69. He started on the back nine and made the turn in 34 to set himself up for a good day. The man from Kolkata moved to 3-under when he birdied the first but a bogey at the par-4 fourth hole briefly halted his progress. Chowrasia regained the lost shot at the par-4 seventh to restore his advantage to three shots.
All of Bhullar’s action came on the back nine, where he too began his tournament. The Kapurthala golfer was T26 at the Russian Open and in a good position at the Czech Masters before slipping to 69th on the final day. The 302nd ranked golfer started with a bang, carding three birdies in the first five holes to surge up the leaderboard. A bogey at the 17th pushed him down to two under, which is where he closed his card, after making ten straight pars to complete his first round.
Shiv Kapur and Jeev Milkha Singh had a very disappointing day on the beautifully decked Circolo Golf Torino course. Kapur made four birdies but he also stumbled to three bogeys and a double at the third to slip into a tie for 82nd. The woefully out of form Milka Singh made six bogeys against just two birdies as he sank to a 76 and leaves him a minimal chance of making it through to the weekend.
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