Karandeep off to a flying start

Chandigarh, December 14

Chandigarh’s Karandeep Kochhar got off to a flying start with a 6-under 66 to lead the opening day of the TATA Steel PGTI’s inaugural SSP Chawrasia Invitational at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club (RCGC).

Abhinav Lohan of the DLF Golf & Country Club, Gurugram, shot a 67 to occupy the second place. Gaganjeet Bhullar fired a 69 to be tied eighth along with Manu Gandas, who is currently placed second in the TATA Steel PGTI Rankings. TATA Steel PGTI Rankings leader Yuvraj Singh Sandhu was a further shot behind at tied-12th position.

Tournament host SSP Chawrasia, Anirban Lahiri and Ajeetesh Sandhu were tied 19th with matching scores of 71. Shankar Das too shot a 71 to be highest placed among the Kolkata golfers along with SSP Chawrasia. Kochhar didn’t look out of sorts despite returning to play at the RCGC after a long gap of five years. The 23-year-old four-time winner on the PGTI had an initial stutter when he bogeyed the 11th but got on a roll after his 30-feet birdie conversion on the 13th.