The Hindu : Sport / Golf : Ghei steady on a windy day

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Apr 13, 2005

Sport

Sport - Golf

Ghei steady on a windy day

By Our Special Correspondent

GURGAON, APRIL 12. On a windy day, Gaurav Ghei's patience paid off while most other contenders paid the price for being a bit impetuous in the opening round of the Rs. 25-lakh Airtel Masters golf championship at the Classic Golf Resort here on Tuesday.

Ghei's six-under 66 gave him a two-stroke lead over Digvijay Singh after the opening round that saw only 19 players break par.

"It was very windy out there," said Ghei after he signed his card. "On this course, I often struggle to get the line right. But today, I got it fine. My guess is that wind is going to be a factor over the next three days, as well."

Of the seven birdies that Ghei sank, the longest one came on the fifth hole where the India Cements man found the `cup' from 15 feet. This lone bogey came on the 16th where he surprisingly missed a four-feet second putt.

Second best

Digvijay fired in five birdies against a bogey for the day's second best card. "In these conditions, it is very difficult to keep the ball in play," said Digvijay missed three successive birdie-opportunities from the third hole before finally finding one on the ninth. Though Digvijay bogeyed the 11th hole, he came back strongly to record a hat-trick of birdies beginning from the 12th hole. His best came on the 14th hole where he two-putted from about 50 feet.

Jeev Milkha Singh's "unpardonable" double-bogey on the par-five 18th hole left him holding a card of 73. Jeev, who birdied the 14th, 15th and 16th holes said, "I had a birdie for the asking but I hit too hard and went over," explained Jeev before heading for the driving range to "let some frustration out."

Jeev's playing partners Shiv Kapur and amateur Gaganjit Bhullar fared better. Shiv Kapur shot a 71 but the surprise packet was Bhullar, who carded a 69.

Minutes before Jeev came in, Mukesh Kumar, the man in form, finished his day's work by dropping a shot after three-putting the ninth-hole for a 73. "I did not play well. My putting was poor," said the man aspiring to win a third title in as many weeks.

The scores: Gaurav Ghei 66; Digvijay Singh 68; Gurbaaz Mann, Ajay Gupta, Gaganjit Bhullar (A) 69; Vijay Kumar, Rahul Ganapathy, Harinder Gupta 70; Mohammad Islam, Vishal Singh, Shamim Khan, Ali Sher, Rafick Ali, Shiv Prakash, Sandeep Syal, Monish Bindra, Vinod Kumar, Shiv Kapur, Amardeep Sinh 71. Sheeraz Kalra, Naman Dawar, Amit Dube, S. Madaiah, Vikrant Chopra (A), Anura Rohana (Sri), Manohar Dike, Jumman, Binod Pandey, Ranjit Singh and Yusuf Ali 72.

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