Shankar Das leads at Players

Pune, June 25, 2013: Shankar Das of Kolkata posted a gallant five-under-67 in difficult weather conditions to grab the first round lead at the PGTI Players Championship being played at the Oxford Golf & Country Club in Pune. Md Zamal Hossain Mollah of Bangladesh is two strokes off the lead in second place.

Shankar Das produced six birdies against a lone bogey in his opening round of 67. The three-time winner on the PGTI started his tournament with a birdie on the 10th, his first hole of the day. He fired his approach shot from 145 yards within a foot of the hole on the 10th. The 30-year-old Shankar then sank a seven-footer for birdie on the 16th. His lone bogey came on the 17th where he three-putted.

“My iron-play was excellent today. I hit a splendid second shot with the nine-iron on the 10th and also produced an accurate five-iron shot on the fifth. The driving was good, particularly on the fourth which I consider one of the tougher holes on this course due to its layout. One has to find the centre of the fairway with the tee shot on the fourth in order to avoid the fairway bunker and the rough on the right. I managed to find the middle of the fairway by hitting the right line,” said Shankar, who had three birdies on the trot from the third through the fifth.

Md Zamal Hossain Mollah’s round of 69 was characterized by some remarkable wedge shots.

[highlight] My iron-play was excellent today. I hit a splendid second shot with the nine-iron on the 10th and also produced an accurate five-iron shot on the fifth. The driving was good, particularly on the fourth which I consider one of the tougher holes [/highlight]

Zamal said, “I chipped really well today and followed that up with some consistent putting. I had 26 putts in all. I capitalized on the first two par-5 holes, the fourth and ninth, with some accurate hitting that helped me find the edge of the green in two shots on both occasions.

“I’m quite confident of performing well this week since I’ve had a good season so far with three top-10s. I’ve also shot some good scores at this venue in the past,” added Zamal, who currently lies 13th in the Rolex Rankings.