Report by Anand Datla
December 9, 2014: On a day when scoring proved tricky,Mukesh Kumar stood out from the pack with a stellar effort of six under 66. Before Mukesh took control of the leaderboard, it took only a two under 70 to tie for the lead during the first round of the Noida Masters. Incredibly there was a logjam right behind Mukesh, with as many as nine golfers tied on two under 70 through the first round of the event being played at the difficult Noida Golf Course. S Chikkarangappa was also among just a dozen golfers to have broken par.
Mukesh was in prolific form on the day. He made no less than seven birdies and an eagle as he blitzed through a course that seemed too difficult to his competitors. He raced through the back nine in just 30 shots, highlighted by an eagle three at the 17th hole.
Om Prakash Chouhan made birdies at the 4th and 9th holes, but back to back bogeys at the 6th and 7th pulled him back to an even 36 for the first nine holes. Despite the setback, Chouhan remained committed to being aggressive, gaining a couple of shots on the back nine to close out among the leaders.
Shamim Khan started with the a bang, making a birdie four at the first hole. But he quietened down from there, settling for eight straight par scores. Khan began the second nine, just he had done on the first, with a birdie at the 10th hole. Eventually he made two more birdies and bogeys, including one at the final hole to surrender the chance to leap frog the rest.
Dharma began his assault on the Noida course from the back nine. Two birdies and a bogey at the 17th saw him make the turn in a comfortable 35 shots. It took a birdie at the 7th to eventually help Dharma join the leaders at two under.
Chikkarangappa, who like Dharma had begun at the tenth hole, fell to one over when he surrendered a bogey at the 14th hole. He recovered though, by making back to back birdies at the 18th and 1st holes. Chikka did make another bogey at the third, but restored his card to under par with a birdie at the par four sixth hole.
Pre-tournament favourite Rashid Khan had a poor opening day. The 21 year old made three bogeys and a double at the 11th hole to sign off with a 74, that left lying in tenth. But there is plenty of golf left to be played and if the course continues to be truant, we could see discipline triumph over skill later this week.
