Feroz Ali shoots 6-under 64

The Madras Gymkhna Club course seems to be Feroz Ali's favourite hunting ground. The winner of the Color Plus Open last season, made up for his disappointing show during the Hindu Open with a stunning round of six-under 64 on the opening day of the Rs 5 lakh Ford-Madras Gymkhana Club Open, which began at par-70, 6667-yard course on Wednesday.

Feroz enjoyed a one-stroke advantage over Harmeet Kahlon, who returned a five-under 65, while Vishal Singh of Jaipur was placed third at third-under 67. Three players - Ali Sher, Digvijay Singh and Mohd Islam - were tied for fourth place at two-under 68.

Sanjay Kumar, winner of the inaugural Color Plus Open in 1998 at this very course, failed for the first time in three years to card an under-par round on day-one and returned with a one-over 71. He was placed at joint 16th spot with seven others.

Feroz Ali banked upon his last year's experience. "I followed the same game-plan as last year and everything clicked," said the Calcuttan.

Starting on the first, Feroz got into the act right away with a birdie. The '98 Indian Open winner carded three more birdies on his front nine, these coming on the 4th, 7th and 9th. A lone bogey on the 6th placed him at three-under at the half-way stage. His return journey was a carbon-copy of his outward-journey with the second ranked pro on last season's Order of Merit birdying the 10th,13th,14th and 17th and bogeying the 15th.

"It was very windy today. Almost like the British Open," said Feroz, whose round comprised of 25 putts and 14 greens in regulations. "Considering the wind, I played really well today," he added.

Oil India employee Harmeet Kahlon, after teeing off from the 10th tee, parred his opening hole before carding a hat-trick of biries on the 11th, 12th and 13th. A drooped shot on the 14th was followed by a birdie on the final hole of his front-nine. Going into his back-nine at three-under, the 1999-2000 season's 'Rookie of the Year' award winner posted a bogey on the first, followed with an eagle on the third which was set up by a driver, 2-iron combination and culminating in a sleek 15 feet putt. His firth birdie of the day came on the 6th.

"I recorded 26 putts and 11 regulations. My game is in great shape," said the India Cements-sponsored golfer.

Vishal Singh's error-free round of golf for 17 holes was marred by a double bogey on the 18th, where the Samode Palace-sponsored golfer missed an easy chip-putt.

Earlier, the winner of last year's Shell Aravalli Open in Faridabad, birdied the 2nd, 5th, 8th and 10th, and an eagle on the 12th with a brilliant chip-in from 30-yard, was five-under after 12 holes.

"My double bogey did me in," said Vishal.

Ali Sher birdied the 3rd, 4th, 5th and 8th holes on his front-nine and with a birdie on the 11th was placed at five-under after 11 holes. However after three dropped shots on the 13th, 14th and 18th the two-time Indian Open winner finished the day at two-under 68.

"My chipping let me down," said the Delhi based golfer. Digvijay Singh's two-under 68 included birdies on the 10th, 13th, 14th, 16th and 17th.

The Meerut based golfer was five-under after eight holes, before bogeys on the 18th, 7th and 8th blotted his card. Mohd. Islam (Patna) was the other golfer to card a two-under 68. Islam birdied the 12th, 3rd and 8th and dropped his only shot of the day on the 17th.

Patwardhan, Selvadurai lead amateur field: Pune's Jaideep Patwasrdhan and Rajmundri's Selvadurai led the amateurs with identical scores of two-over 72, CV Yudhvir was placed third at the three-over 73.

SCORES: 64_Ferox Ali; 65_Harmeet Kahlon; 67_Vishal Singh; 68_Ali Sher, Digvijay Singh, Mohd. Islam; 69_Indrajit Bhalotia; 70_Mukesh Kumar, Amish Jaitha, Binod Pandey, Magan Subbarao, Pappan, Rafiq Ali, Rajesh Kumar Rawat, Raju Ali, Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia; Amateurs: 72_Jaideep Patwardhan, L Selvadurai, 73_CV Yudhvir.