December 18, 2015: Abhishek Jha missed the cut in six of the first nine events he entered this season on the PGTI Tour. He is in no danger of adding to that ungainly number this week, after posting a brilliant 63 in the first round of the 14th Tata Open in Jamshedpur. The 29 year old from Bengaluru torn open the course at the Golmuri Club, making nine birdies to take a one shot lead over Honey Baisoya.
Baisoya made seven under 64 with the help of eight birdies to occupy the second spot. It was an impressive performance from the golfer from Delhi Golf Club, who is in the midst of a good run.
After missing the cut in five of his first seven events in 2015, Baisoya has finished inside the top 20 in four straight tournaments. The 19 year old was third at the CG Open in the first week of December.
Amardip Sinh Malik, Vikrant Chopra, Abhinav Lohan and Angad Cheema were in flawless form, producing clean sheets to account for a fine 65 each. The four men are lying in T3 through 18 holes.
Vinod Kumar is in seventh spot, striking four birdies and an eagle at the par-4 third hole in his first day total of 66.
Siddarth Semwal was set for a clean march through the course, before he stumbled to a double bogey at the par-5 18th hole. But he had already made six birdies and despite needing seven shots at the final hole, he was good enough for T8 with 67 on his card.
Semwal is among a group of six men that included C Muniyappa, Feroze Ali Mollah, Shankar Das, Ashok Kumar and R Murthy. The last of those men enjoyed a clean sheet, aided by just two birdies and an eagle at the par-5 eighth hole.