Siddikur yet to settle at World Cup

November 22, 2013. The recent Indian Open Champion, Siddikur Rahman has to pay heavily for his two wayward swings on his debut at the US$8 million ISPS HANDA World Cup of Golf. The promising Bangladeshi ended his day with a two-over-par 73 at the Royal Melbourne Golf Club on Thursday.

Siddikur, ran up a triple bogey and double bogey on the 12th and 13th holes but fought back with birdies on 14 and 18 to end the day in tied 32nd position.

American Kevin Streelman and Dane Thomas Bjorn share the first round lead with 66s in the individual category.

[highlight]I had two bad shots which cost me. Pushed my driver on 12 for a triple bogey and then hit another bad shot on 13 for a double. After that, I had a good come back. I just have to make sure I don’t make the same mistakes tomorrow. [/highlight]

The first player from Bangladesh to qualify for the World Cup of Golf, Siddikur celebrated his birthday on Wednesday. He said he was happy with his comeback after dropping five shots over two holes.

“I had two bad shots which cost me. Pushed my driver on 12 for a triple bogey and then hit another bad shot on 13 for a double. After that, I had a good come back. I just have to make sure I don’t make the same mistakes tomorrow. My hitting and putting were good, except for those two shots. Three days to go, so no need to worry about the cut,” said Siddikur.

He arrived in Royal Melbourne in good form after winning his second Asian Tour title at the Hero Indian Open a fortnight ago. Experts also rated him one of the favourites at the world Cup. However, the challenging Royal Melbourne, known as one of the best sandbelt courses in Australia, is testing his true caliber.

“On this course, you need to hit it to the centre of the green and hit a lot of fairways. You can’t play for the pins as it rolls some 15 or 20 yards on the greens. You have to respect the golf course, otherwise you won’t be able to make a score,” said Siddikur.

He nearly pulled off a grandstand finish when an approach shot into the par four 18th green stopped just short of falling into the cup for eagle.