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September 17th 2009, Gurgaon: Om Prakash Chouhan of Mhow grabbed the first round lead at the Aircel PGTI’s DLF Masters 2009, courtesy an opening round of five under 67. The 23-year-old understudy of veteran Mukesh Kumar is currently one stroke ahead of Gaganjeet Bhullar, who shot 68 on Thursday. Defending champion Jyoti Randhawa fired one under 71 to be tied 11th.

Om Prakash Chouhan had a slow start to his campaign at the DLF Masters, making par on the first four holes and bogey on the fifth. He then turned the tide with four birdies over the next seven holes (sixth, ninth, 10th, 12th). A superb third shot (lob wedge) on the ninth set up an easy three feet birdie putt for Chouhan. His 280-yard drive on the 12th then gave him another birdie opportunity, which he managed to convert.

Chouhan, whose best finish on the Aircel PGTI in the current season has been tied seventh, signed off with birdies on the 16th and 18th to finish with a spectacular 67. On the 18th he set up a three-footer for birdie with another well executed lob wedge shot.

Couhan said, “I’ve been working on my driving over the last two weeks and that seems to have paid off today. My ball striking was quite good today and so was my putting. The wind played to my advantage on the 12th where my drive carried quite a distance.

“I have been getting some good advice from my coach Mukesh Kumar on how to deal with this particular course. My focus will now be on my driving for the rest of the week. I know if I drive well I will post some good scores.”

Gaganjeet Bhullar fought back with three successive birdies (sixth, seventh, eighth) immediately after dropping a bogey on the fifth. He sank a 12-footer for birdie on the par three eighth.

Bhullar, fresh from a second place finish at last week’s Asian Tour event, produced a gem with his sand wedge for birdie on the 10th. He landed the ball within one foot of the pin from a distance of 107 yards. A bogey-birdie followed on the 14th and 15th. Finally, the Kapurthala golfer made a tricky chip-putt for birdie from the left of the fairway on the 18th.

“Apart from the two bogeys I had a good round. I made some long putts today. The course is playing really well with the sun beating down over the last few days. The slopes on the fairways pose quite a challenge while the rough is not easy to negotiate,” said Bhullar.

DLF-based golfers Ashok Kumar and Digvijay Singh were joined by Vivek Bhandari and Shankar Das in tied third place at three under 69.

Rahil Gangjee, Naman Dawar, Manav Jaini and M Sasidaran of Malaysia are a further stroke behind in tied seventh place.

Playing at his home course, defending champion Jyoti Randhawa made three birdies against two bogeys on the opening day to fire one under 71. He currently shares 11th place along with Anirban Lahiri and seven other professionals.

Gaurav Ghei and SSP Chowrasia are tied 27th at one over 73 while Shiv Kapur is tied 45th, having shot two over 74.