The Hindu : Sport / Golf : Chowrasia ahead by one stroke

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jun 15, 2007
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Sport - Golf

Chowrasia ahead by one stroke

Principal Correspondent

GURGAON: S. S. P. Chowrasia fired a seven-under 65 to lead by one stroke on the opening day of the Rs. 25 lakh ColorPlus Open at the Golden Greens Golf and Country Club here on Thursday.

Chowrasia began early in the morning and had perfect conditions for golf on an otherwise hot and humid day. He started with a birdie on the first hole and went on to record eight against just one bogey.

Chowrasia, who had mixed results on the Asian Tour this season, had some problems with his putter while playing at the Koh Samui Bangkok Airways Open. He rectified it, and it did wonders for him.

Ashok second

Close on Chowrasia's heels was Ashok Kumar, who carded a 66 despite playing under the blazing sun. The Order of Merit leader Ashok Kumar, who played in the afternoon session, had Chowrasia's 65 as the target and almost caught up with the Kolkatan.

Ashok, who has four wins from seven starts this season, was aggressive right from the start. He attacked the pin on every hole and though he strayed on a few holes, Ashok was always in the hunt. He had seven birdies, an eagle and three bogeys.

"I felt very good on the course, even though there was a lot of wind in the afternoon," said Ashok. "Hopefully I can keep up the tempo on the second day when I start in the morning."

Digvijay Singh (67), Shiv Prakash (68) and C. Muniyappa (69) followed Ashok in that order.

The Pine Valley Beijing Open champion, Gaurav Ghei, was tied sixth with three others — Vikrant Chopra, Roop Singh and Mohammed Islam — stood at 70.

The scores: S. S. P. Chowrasia 65, Ashok Kumar 66, Digvijay Singh 67, Shiv Prakash 68, C. Muniyappa 69, Gaurav Ghei, Vikrant Chopra, Roop Singh and Mohammed Islam 70, Manav Jaini, Gurki Shergill, Arjun Singh, Shiraz Kalra, Dinesh Kumar and Gaganjeet Bhullar 71.

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