Two -sided draw for lead on day one of TN Open in Coimbatore

Gaurav Pratap Singh from Noida in action on day one of the Tamil Nadu Open in Coimbatore Golf Club on Tuesday, where he shared the 18-hole lead with Dhaka’s Jamal Hossain. Image Courtesy Pgti.

By Rahul Banerji

Noida’s Gaurav Pratap Singh and last week’s winner Jamal Hossain shared the lead after day one of the RS 1 Crore Tamil Nadu Open in Coimbatore Golf Club on Tuesday.

Singh and Dhaka’s Hossain went 3 under par 69s in extremely windy circumstances during the event presented by Sipcot and Tancem, the PGTI said.

The Delhi-based Arjun Prasad, second in the PGTI order of merit, was a shot at the back of 2 under 70 in third place.

Manu Gandas van Gurgaon, Rookie Joysurjo Dey from Kolkata and Ahmedabad’s Anshul Patel shared the fourth position with scores of 71.

Singh, 31^star On the PGTI order of merit, opened with a bogey but collected with five birdies in the next 14 holes thanks to some excellent chip putters.

He dropped another shot at 17, but still ended the day with the best score of the joint.

Good saves

Singh, a multiple winner on the PGTI, said: “In addition to some quality ship putts, I also made some good par-rescuing today. More importantly, I kept my game plan and the things afterwards fell into place.

“I have been quite consistent so far in the second half of the season, including top 20s in the last two events, so I feel that my game is on the right track and now it’s about putting together four good rounds.”

Hossain also started his round with a bogey on hole 10^T But brought his round back on the right track with Birdies on holes 15 and two with a few stylish chip shots before he finally stopped for an eagle-two on the par-4 sixth hole.

“I feel last week’s momentum and hope to repeat what I did in Hyderabad,” said the 40-year-old.

“However, I missed way too many putts for my taste today. I just have to sharpen that aspect to be here in the mix.”

S Prasanth van Chennai was the highest placed under the professionals based in Tamil Nadu when he hit a 77 to be bound 52^ND.

Read also: Hyderabad Washout Hands Jamal Hossain Golconda Masters Title

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