Lahiri leads by one after a tough opening day at Panasonic Open
Defending champion and Panasonic’s Brand Ambassador Anirban Lahiri
overcame all the challenges that the Delhi Golf Club presented by
getting off to a great start on the opening day in rather tough
conditions in the Panasonic Open India 2012. Bringing home the only
card under 70 with a three-under 69, Lahiri was one clear of a group
of seven players tied for second at 70 at the Delhi Golf Club on
Thursday.
It was a fine day for the local contingent, as four other Indians,
Shankar Das, Ashok Kumar, Sanjay Kumar and Digvijay Singh shot 70
each, and three other Indians SSP Chowrasia, Jyoti Randhawa and Om
Prakash Chouhan carded 71 each. There were a total of 14 Indians in
top 25, who were even par or better.
Lahiri knocked in five birdies, three of them from close to 20 feet,
and had just two bogeys, both times missing short par putts. There
were two other birdie misses from less than eight feet.
Das, sixth at the SAIL-SBI Open last month at the same venue, could
also have gone under 70 as he stood at three-under 16 holes, but he
made missed a short par putt on eighth and ended at 70.
Randhawa, starting on the tenth, had a birdie on 11th, but three
successive bogeys from 15th to 17th saw him turn in two-over. Then
after the turn, Randhawa was a changed player. Coming to terms with
the windy conditions, he found birdies on third, fifth and seventh and
with no more bogeys, he was under-par at 71, which in the morning
session was a fine score on such a day.
Towards the end of the evening, Sanjay Kumar, who had a bogey-bogey
start also finished at 70 with three birdies on the back nine.
Chowrasia, starting from the back nine, had two birdies on either side
of the course and three bogeys for his 71. “I had a birdie on 11th and
then a give-in on par-5 14th, where I hit my third shot to two feet
and then had good birdies on first and sixth. That bogey on 18th was a
bit disappointing, but overall it was a good score on a difficult
day.”
Trying to avoid the traffic restrictions on account of the BRIC Summit
in the capital, Lahiri, who had an afternoon tee-off, arrived at the
club early in the morning. “When I came in the morning, the conditions
were okay, but it was much harder playing in the afternoon. I remember
going for a bite and came back out and the conditions were entirely
different. It was tough. Peter (Karmis) and Pariya (Junhasavasdikul)
were playing good but it only took one shot to turn things around,” he
said.
“When the conditions are like these you don’t have options. You can
only hit one shot especially if the winds are blowing 30 or 40
kilometres per hour. It was all about execution and not much about
strategy. The conditions dictated your strategy. Given the wind, you
had to hit your shots low and try not to fight the wind as much as
possible.”
He added, “I hit a lot of good golf shots. To be quite fair, I missed
a couple of shots on the front nine and made a lot of putts on the
back so that even things out. If anything, I would have liked to
finish the last hole with a birdie. I hit a perfect tee shot but hit
my approach shot short of the green. I was very lucky on the 16th
hole. I could have gone seven or eight feet past the hole. I’m happy I
caught a break here and there.”
Manav Jaini, one of the local DGC lads, had the steadiest round with
18 pars in his 72, while Chiragh Kumar, who was a runner-up at the
Indian Open at this venue pulled out midway because of ankle injury.
Another one pulling out due to a shoulder injury was Adam Blyth. Also
Suffering in tough conditions on the opening was Rikard Karlberg (76),
who has twice won at the DGC, as also DGC veteran Ali Sher (77) and
Thaworn Wiratchant (74), all of whom have tasted wins at the DGC.
overcame all the challenges that the Delhi Golf Club presented by
getting off to a great start on the opening day in rather tough
conditions in the Panasonic Open India 2012. Bringing home the only
card under 70 with a three-under 69, Lahiri was one clear of a group
of seven players tied for second at 70 at the Delhi Golf Club on
Thursday.
It was a fine day for the local contingent, as four other Indians,
Shankar Das, Ashok Kumar, Sanjay Kumar and Digvijay Singh shot 70
each, and three other Indians SSP Chowrasia, Jyoti Randhawa and Om
Prakash Chouhan carded 71 each. There were a total of 14 Indians in
top 25, who were even par or better.
Lahiri knocked in five birdies, three of them from close to 20 feet,
and had just two bogeys, both times missing short par putts. There
were two other birdie misses from less than eight feet.
Das, sixth at the SAIL-SBI Open last month at the same venue, could
also have gone under 70 as he stood at three-under 16 holes, but he
made missed a short par putt on eighth and ended at 70.
Randhawa, starting on the tenth, had a birdie on 11th, but three
successive bogeys from 15th to 17th saw him turn in two-over. Then
after the turn, Randhawa was a changed player. Coming to terms with
the windy conditions, he found birdies on third, fifth and seventh and
with no more bogeys, he was under-par at 71, which in the morning
session was a fine score on such a day.
Towards the end of the evening, Sanjay Kumar, who had a bogey-bogey
start also finished at 70 with three birdies on the back nine.
Chowrasia, starting from the back nine, had two birdies on either side
of the course and three bogeys for his 71. “I had a birdie on 11th and
then a give-in on par-5 14th, where I hit my third shot to two feet
and then had good birdies on first and sixth. That bogey on 18th was a
bit disappointing, but overall it was a good score on a difficult
day.”
Trying to avoid the traffic restrictions on account of the BRIC Summit
in the capital, Lahiri, who had an afternoon tee-off, arrived at the
club early in the morning. “When I came in the morning, the conditions
were okay, but it was much harder playing in the afternoon. I remember
going for a bite and came back out and the conditions were entirely
different. It was tough. Peter (Karmis) and Pariya (Junhasavasdikul)
were playing good but it only took one shot to turn things around,” he
said.
“When the conditions are like these you don’t have options. You can
only hit one shot especially if the winds are blowing 30 or 40
kilometres per hour. It was all about execution and not much about
strategy. The conditions dictated your strategy. Given the wind, you
had to hit your shots low and try not to fight the wind as much as
possible.”
He added, “I hit a lot of good golf shots. To be quite fair, I missed
a couple of shots on the front nine and made a lot of putts on the
back so that even things out. If anything, I would have liked to
finish the last hole with a birdie. I hit a perfect tee shot but hit
my approach shot short of the green. I was very lucky on the 16th
hole. I could have gone seven or eight feet past the hole. I’m happy I
caught a break here and there.”
Manav Jaini, one of the local DGC lads, had the steadiest round with
18 pars in his 72, while Chiragh Kumar, who was a runner-up at the
Indian Open at this venue pulled out midway because of ankle injury.
Another one pulling out due to a shoulder injury was Adam Blyth. Also
Suffering in tough conditions on the opening was Rikard Karlberg (76),
who has twice won at the DGC, as also DGC veteran Ali Sher (77) and
Thaworn Wiratchant (74), all of whom have tasted wins at the DGC.
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