Gurugram, 28 Mar: Aman Raj, Om Prakash Chouhan and Karandeep Kochhar produced matching cards of four-under 68 in the opening round to share tied 14th place at the Hero Indian Open here on Thursday.
Star Indian golfer Anirban Lahiri, who is struggling to keep his Paris Olympic hopes alive, had a forgettable homecoming as he was five-over 77 and will need a dramatic second round to hang around for the weekend action.
Shubhankar Sharma, the top-ranked Indian began with a bogey, but braving a cold and slight body ache, he finished two-under 70 and was T-34, as was Gaganjeet Bhullar.
Sharma and Bhullar are the front runners to make the Paris Olympics cut from India.
The day belonged to Netherland’s Joost Luiten, Italy’s Matteo Manassero and the talented Keita Nakajima from Japan — all three turning in sensational seven-under 65 to grab the top spot after the opening day at the DLF Golf and Country Club.
Luiten, a six-time winner on the DP World Tour, who has been winless on the tour since 2018, shared the lead with the incredible young talent from Japan, Keita Nakajima and Matteo Manassero from Netherlands, another former World No. 1 amateur in 2009.
Nakajima has spent a record 87 weeks as the World’s No. 1 amateur before turning pro in 2022 and winning three more times and emerging as No 1 in Japan Tour an achievement that earned him a card into the DP World Tour.
Manassero, on the other hand, by 2012 had become the first teenager to win three times in Europe. Then he did not win till earlier this month. His bogey-free 65 indicated the resurgence continues. (PTI)