October 10th 2012, New Delhi, India: Shamim Khan of Delhi shot a power-packed eight-under-64 to grab the lead in round one of the BILT Open 2012 being played at the Delhi Golf Club (DGC). Rashid Khan, another Delhi golfer, was in second place, one stroke behind the leader.
Shamim Khan, currently placed second on the 2012 Rolex Rankings, was off to a flying start at his home course with a super 64. He got on a roll with four straight birdies on the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth. The 34-year-old sank putts from a range of six to 12 feet on the fifth, sixth and seventh. He then chipped it within three feet on the eighth. Shamim then added another birdie to his card with a chip-in on the 10th.
Shamim made further inroads with a 25-feet eagle putt on the 14th and a birdie on the 16th to close the day at 64.
Shamim said, “I’ve recently had problems with short putts but today I did not leave any short putts as I have been working on my wrist movement. I played some good chip shots today. The confidence is up as I’ve had a wonderful season so far having won two titles. I know this course well so I’ll look to drive home the advantage over the next three rounds.”
Rashid Khan, another DGC-based professional, excelled on day one. Rashid’s round of 65 featured an eagle and five birdies. The 21-year-old, who has a title to his credit in the 2012 PGTI season, sank an eagle from 10 feet on the par-5 eighth and knocked-in a 40-footer for birdie on the second.
“I did well on the par-5s today as I picked up four strokes on the 18th, first and eighth. My short-game has been quite sharp over the last few weeks and today I even hit it well as I made 15 greens in regulation. I holed more putts on the second nine. It’s my home course so I’m pretty confident of performing well,” said Rashid.
Md Islam of Patna was in third place with a score of 67, while leader Shamim’s elder brother Gulfam occupied joint fourth place at 68 along with Arshpreet Thind of the Golden Greens Golf & Country Club.
Tournament favourite Jyoti Randhawa occupies tied sixth position at three-under-69 along with Delhi’s Manav Jaini, Abhinav Lohan of Faridabad, Kolkata golfers Ranjit Singh Rathore and Shankar Das, Chandigarh’s Randhir Singh Ghotra and Rajesh Kumar Rawat of Lucknow. Rajesh Kumar Rawat made a hole-in-one on the 17th.
Manoj Kumar of Lucknow also made a hole-in-one on the 17th in his round of 75 that placed him tied 63rd.
