Sanjay Kumar sets early pace with six-under 64

Sanjay Kumar of Lucknow set the tone on the opening day of the Rs 600,000 BPGC Open when he jumped to the top of the leaderboard with a six-under 64 round at the par-70 Bombay Presidency Golf Club course, on Thursday.

Sanjay, winner of the Servo Masters title this season at Digboi, led by one stroke over twice BPGC Open champion Mukesh Kumar, while Vijay Kumar was third at four-under 66. Shiv Prakash, leader of Order of Merit this season, was fourth at three-under 67, while the Kolkata trio of Uttam Singh Mundy, Indrajit Bhalotia and Asgar Ali were tied for fifth place at two-under 68.

Sanjay gave an indication of the kind of round that was to follow when he began with a birdie on the par-5 first hole. The early advantage was nulled by a bogey on the second. However, birdies on the par-5 fourth and par-3 sixth saw him make the turn at two-under. A birdie on the 11th and a bogey on the 13th kept him at two-under with five holes to go. But Sanjay, who is known as the "Eagle Man" on the Tour for his uncanny ability to make eagles, provided a grandstand finish with a birdie on the 15th, an eagle on the par-5 16th and another birdie on the 18th to finish at six-under 64.

"I am very happy with the way I played the round. My hitting was solid but more heartening was the fact that my putts fell into the hole when required," said the Lucknow golfer who completed the round with 28 putts.

Mukesh Kumar, who shot a six-over 77 on the final day of the Wills Western Open while leading the tournament last week, shot a bogey-free round of five-under 65. The Mhow-based pro was not hitting the ball like he usually does, but he made up for that aspect with his immaculate short game. He chipped-in for birdies on the fourth and fifth holes from edge of the green, and then made a monstrous 25-footer putt on the seventh and a 15-footer on the eighth to make the turn at four-under. On the back nine, he struggled a bit and had only one birdie - on the par-5 16th where he was on the green in two shots but missed the 12-footer eagle putt.

"I am very happy with my round, especially considering the last round I played in Pune. I scrambled to make a par on the first hole, where I was left with a ten-feet par putt, and told myself thereafter that I should just enjoy the round. I did exactly that," said Mukesh after the round.

Vijay Kumar, looking for his third title of the season, looked in awesome form as he made birdies on the first, third and fourth to be three-under after four holes. But thereafter, his putter started playing truant. As many as four birdie putts from less than 10 feet lipped out and frustrated the No 1 golfer on the Indian PGA Tour for last three seasons.

"Not only my birdie putts, but the two bogeys I made were also courtesy lipped out par putts. I was putting well, but the ball just refused to go in. It was frustrating," said the winner of Bhatiary Open, the first pro tournament in Bangladesh in January this year.

Shiv Prakash began with a bang when he hit his 2-iron second shot on the par-5 first hole to 25 feet and sank it for an eagle. The Kanpur pro then added birdies on the fifth, eighth, 16th and 18th, the last two coming from the greenside bunker on the par-5 holes. But he also made two bogies from the bunker - on the second and 11th - and a three-putt bogey on the 12th for his three-under 67.

"My putting was not up to the mark. Otherwise I could have gone a lot lower," he said.

Kanitkar leads amateurs: Aditya Kanitkar of Pune, younger brother of renowned cricketer Hrishikesh Kanitkar, shot a one-over 71 and led his citymate Jaideep Patwardhan by one stroke in the amateur section of the tournament.

SCORES (after 18 holes): 64 _ Sanjay Kumar; 65 _ Mukesh Kumar; 66 _ Vijay Kumar; 67 _ Shiv Prakash; 68 _ Indrajit Bhalotia, Asgar Ali, Uttam Singh Mundy; 69 _ Basad Ali, Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia, Vishal Singh, Ali Sher, Gast Ram; 70 _ Prakash Kubde, Rohtas Singh, Rafiq Ali, Feroz Ali; 71 _ Raghujit Randhawa, Yusuf Ali, Magan Subbarao; Ams: 71 _ Aditya Kanitkar; 72 _ Jaideep Patwardhan; 74 _ Partheev Sanghrajka