Three share lead in Leela-BGC golf

Vijay Kumar and Mukesh Kumar, in the limelight this week, were joined by Devendra Patel in a three-way lead after the opening round of Rs 550,000 Leela Palace – BGC Open being played at the par-68, 5,750-yard Bangalore Golf Club on Thursday.

The threesome brought in identical cards of two-under 66.

Calcutta's Indrajit Bhalotia, along with local golfer C Muniyappa were tied for the fourth spot one stroke behind the leaders at one-under 67. Calcuttan Feroz Ali, Mhow's D S Raghuvanshi and Delhi’s Vinod Kumar collectively occupied the sixth spot at level-par 68, while Wednesday's pro-am winner Rohtas Singh disappointed with a four-over 72 to sit at tied-18th position.

Vijay Kumar, eyeing his third career ‘Champion Golfer of the Year’ award, was exemplary off the tee. However, his short game prevented him from essaying a better start than two-under. Starting with a series of pared holes, Vijay’s first eventful hole proved to be the par-4 6th. On the concerned hole, the stocky golfer's driver positioned him on the center of the fairway, before a perfectly judged pitching wedge shot saw his ball roll comfortably into the cup for eagle. A bogey on the final hole of his outward journey due to a muffed up six feet par putt placed him at one-under before making the turn. On his back-nine, Vijay birdied the par-5 18th after reaching the green in two shots.

"I hit the ball really well today, but my putting was very patchy," said Vijay after returning 33 putts on Thursday.

"If I can read the greens better tomorrow, I know I will cruise," he added.

Mukesh Kumar needs to finish ahead of Vijay in this tournament if he is to be certain of winning the 'Champion Golfer of the Year' award.

Mukesh's was an identical tale to Vijay's. "My putting was lousy," said Mukesh despite returning 28 putts. Starting his round in not too auspicious a fashion with a bogey, Mukesh did not err thereafter, with a birdie on the 5th on his front-nine and two more on the 12th and 18th on his back-nine.

"I am playing under terrific pressure this week," admitted the Mhow based golfer. "My hitting was superb today, but I am a little worried about my short game," concluded last year's 'Player of the Year' award winner.

D Patel was the surprise package on Thursday. Mukesh's city-mate had a more balanced round than his companions atop the leader-board. Birdies on the 2nd, 6th, 14th and 18th and dropped shots on the 5th and 15th studded his card. On the 15th, despite a well placed 5-iron, Patel duffed his approach shot and paid for the error.

"I missed six birdie putts five feet of less in distance," said a slightly dejected Patel. "However, I am happy with the way I have started," he added.

Indrajit Bhalotia had an eagle on the 7th and a double bogey on the 16th amid birdies on the 5th, 3rd, 14th and 18th and bogeys on the 2nd, 3rd and 9th holes. However, the leading contender for the 'Putter of the Year' award returned 26 putts, thereby bettering his chances of winning the award.

Renu leads amateur field: Local golfer Sripad Renu aided by a four-over 72 lead the amateur field by one stroke over second placed Gaurav Dewan who returned a five-over 73. David dsouza was placed third at six-over 74.

SCORES (after 18 holes): 66_Vijay Kumar, Mukesh Kumar, Devendra Patel; 67_Indrajit Bhalotia, C Muniyappa; 68_DS Raghuvanshi, Firoz Ali, Vinod Kumar (D); 69_Binod Pandey, Shamim Khan, Tarun Sardesai, Vishal Singh; 70_Balbir Singh Verma, N Srinivasan, Sanjay Kumar; 71_Rajesh Kumar Rawat, Rup Singh; 72_Rohtas Singh, S Madhaiah, Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia, Sujay Ghorpade

Amateurs: 72_Sripad Rsenu; 73_Gaurav Dewan; 74_David D'Souza