Shankar Das takes flight with a seven-under-65, leads by three

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Digboi, Assam, November 19, 2014: Shankar Das of Kolkata fired a blistering seven-under-65 in round one of the IndianOil Servo Masters Golf 2014 to open up a three-shot lead at the top at the Digboi Golf Links. Abhinav Lohan of the DLF Golf & Country Club, Gurgaon, was in second place at four-under-68.

The tournament was inaugurated on Wednesday morning by Mr. S S Bapat, Executive Director, (CC and Branding), IOCL and Mr. Barun Barpujari, Executive Director (IC), Assam Oil Divison, IOCL. Mr. S S Bapat’s ceremonial tee-off was followed by the release of pigeons and balloons. Mr. Bapat and Mr. Barpujari also planted trees on the course to mark the inauguration of the event.

Shankar Das, a two-time winner at Digboi in 2010 and 2011, was quick off the blocks as he struck a purple patch with five straight birdies from the 11^th through the 15^th. The 30-year-old, currently second on the Rolex Rankings, set up eagle opportunities on the 12^th and 14^th thanks to two brilliant drives, one of which found the green. Shankar however, narrowly missed eagles on both occasions and had to settle for birdies.

A couple of accurate wedge shots helped Das gain two more strokes on the 11^th and 15^th. His longest putt of the day was the 15-footer for birdie on the 13^th. A bogey on the second was a minor setback as Shankar roared back with birdies on the fifth, seventh and ninth.

“I always do well at this venue. So I had the confidence coming into this tournament. I struck the ball really well and also played some good chip shots. The birdie-spree early on helped me raise my game further. I set up three eagle opportunities but couldn’t take any of them. The most disappointing was missing the two-feet eagle putt on the seventh,” said Shankar.

He added, “I’m eager to do well here this week since it can help me become number one in the Rolex Rankings. I also want to make up for last year when I didn’t fare too well at Digboi due to a back injury.”

Abhinav Lohan holed three long-range birdie putts and came up with two well-executed chip-putts for birdies. He had a lone bogey and thus closed the day in second place with a 68.

Lohan, looking for his maiden title, said, “I had a couple of low scores last week at Shillong, but ended the tournament with an ordinary 74. I feel I’ve got back my rhythm with today’s round. A sharp short-game will hold the key at this course and I feel I did well in that area today.”

The six players who took a share of third place at three-under-69 were Delhi’s Shamim Khan, Kolkata’s Nur Hossain Sardar, Vishal Singh of Jaipur, Lucknow golfer Sanjay Kumar who won at Shillong last week, Bangalore’s C Muniyappa and Karan Taunk of Jamshedpur, the current leader in the Emerging Player of the Year race.

Nur Hossain Sardar, playing only his second event of the season, came close to making a hole-in-one on the 16^th where his tee shot stopped one foot from the flag.

Karan Taunk made five birdies on the trot from the 11^th through the 15^th during his opening round.