When you want solely 24 putts over 18 holes and birdie all 4 par-5s throughout a bogey-free spherical, a surprising rating of seven-under 65 is a pure corollary.
Siddikur Rahman did simply that on the opening day of the $750,000 DGC Open for a two-stroke lead on Thursday.
An everyday on the Indian Tour, the seasoned Bangladeshi sank 5 birdies during the last seven holes. He overtook the trio of Rashid Khan, Justin Quiban (Philippines) and defending champion Nitithorn Thippong (Thailand) – at 67 – with birdies on the final two holes, together with a chip-in on the seventeenth.
S. Chikkarangappa was a part of the six-man cluster at 68 whereas novice Yuvraj Singh and Om Prakash Chouhan adopted a stroke behind.
However, it was a heartbreaking end for Mysore-boy Aryan Roopa Anand who signed off with a triple-bogey on the par-4 ninth gap for a 71 on a day when a number of illustrious names struggled.
Rashid, the most effective Indian on view, began from the tenth and pared all holes earlier than taking the flip. The back-nine introduced Rashid to the fore. He birdied his tenth and 14th holes earlier than sinking a hat-trick of birdies from the sixteenth for his greatest card of the season.
Interestingly, Rashid had two birdies every on the par-5s and par-3s after needing 25 putts to cowl the gap. Given the tightness of the course, his common driving distance of 270 metres complimented his flawless placing to place him briefly in joint lead earlier than Siddikur sped away.
Winner of the 2013 Indian Open, Siddikur produced his acquainted greatest on the DGC the place he completed runner-up 4 occasions and has 9 different top-10 finishes from 16 begins. “I love the Delhi Golf Club course and I have always enjoyed playing here. So, it was a wonderful day. I’m hitting really well. At the same time, I’m putting well,” mentioned Siddikur.
The scores:
First spherical (Indians except acknowledged): 65- Siddikur Rahman (Ban); 67 – Rashid Khan, Justin Quiban (Phi), Nitithorn Thippong (Tha), 68 – S. Chikkarangappa, Nirat Chapchai (Tha), Miguel Tabuena (Phi), Varun Chopra (USA), Taichi Kho (Hkg) and Matt Killen (Eng).
Other Indians (with sub-par scores): 69 – Yuvraj Singh (A), Om Prakash Chouhan; 70 – Pratap Atwal (A), Veer Ahlawat, Ranjit Singh, 71 – Shaurya Bhattacharya (A), Karandeep Singh Kochhar, Honey Baisoya, Sachin Baisoya, Abhijit Chadha and Aryan Roopa Anand.