Digvijay, Sanjeev share lead on Day 1

Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, December 12

Former Asian Tour winner Digvijay Singh and last year’s runner-up Sanjeev Kumar carded an identical 6-under 64 to share the lead on the opening day of the CG Open 2018 at the Bombay Presidency Golf Club in Mumbai on Wednesday.

Sri Lankan Mithun Perera was placed third at 5-under 65.

Gurugram’s Digvijay Singh, who started from the 10th tee on a cool and windy morning in Mumbai, came up with a flawless 64, reaping the rewards of working on his putting with fellow professional Gurki Shergill. 

The seasoned golfer, who won an Asian Tour event in India in 2012, made three birdies each on his back and front-nine to hold the advantage on Day 1.

“I’ll give credit to my friend Gurki Shergill who helped me with my putting stroke. I’ve been all over the place with my putting over the last few weeks. But Gurki and me worked on something that clicked for me today,” Digvijay said after the day’s play.

“Leading up to this event, I was not even coming close to the hole when the putts were within a range of 15 to 20 feet. But today I was shaving most of the holes. 

I had a tremendous recovery for par on the closing ninth. I thought it would be great to finish with a birdie so I got a little ahead of myself at that stage and landed my tee shot in the trees. Luckily, I had a swing there and managed to pull off a brilliant second shot that landed on the edge and helped me salvage the situation,” he added.

Sanjeev Kumar too joined Digvijay at the top thanks to his seven birdies that came at the cost of a lone bogey. Sanjeev, who lost out to M Dharma in a playoff at the 2017 edition, began the week with a birdie on the first. His confidence then soared with a 20-feet birdie conversion on the fifth.

Kumar went on to make four more birdies from a range of 10 to 20 feet to sign for a 64. 

“I felt good from the very start as I birdied the first hole. It brought back memories of last year’s performance when I finished runner-up after a final round of six-under. The last round in Bengaluru last week just helped me get in rhythm as I shot a solid two-under there,” said Sanjeev.

Mithun Perera mixed seven birdies with two bogeys for his 65 while N Thangaraja, another Sri Lankan, sank back to back eagles on the 18th and first en route his round of 66 that placed him joint fourth. Thangaraja chipped-in on the first.

Mysuru’s Yashas Chandra and Australian Kunal Bhasin also took a share of fourth at 66.

Chandigarh’s Harendra Gupta was tied 7th at 3-under 67, while Feroz Singh Garewal and Abhijit Singh Chadha shared the 11th spot with a card of 2-under 68.