SCORESHEET

September 24th 2009, Panchkula, Haryana: Harendra Gupta of Chandigarh fired a five under 67 at the Panchkula Golf Club on Thursday to hold the first round lead at the Aircel-PGTI’s Haryana Open 2009 presented by HUDA and DLF. Anirban Lahiri, Ranjit Singh Rathore, A S Lehal, Sheeraz Kalra and Vijay Kumar are two strokes behind Gupta in tied second place.

Harendra Gupta had an ideal start to the tournament as he birdied the first, third, sixth seventh and ninth to make the turn at five under. Gupta made a tricky downhill putt from 12 feet to secure his best birdie of the day on the ninth. He then made birdies on the 11th and 15th and bogeys on the 13th and 16th to close with a brilliant 67. It was an exceptional round for Harendra considering the fact that he has been struggling with his swing in recent months.

Harendra Gupta

“I had a good opening round today even though I’m still working on my swing and trying to shorten it in order to hit it better. I had a decent birdie on the ninth today where I sank a tough downhill putt from 12 feet. It’s was quite humid today and not as windy as it usually is at the Panchkula Golf Club. While the absence of wind makes it easier to shoot low scores, the humid conditions make it tough to concentrate,” said Gupta.

He added, “It is essential to drive well on this course as the rough is up and there will be a premium on hitting the fairways.”

Anirban Lahiri birdied the opening 10th, where he landed his second shot a few inches from the pin. He sank another birdie on the 13th before making a three-putt from four feet to drop a bogey on the 15th. A bogey on the first brought him back to level par. Bangalore-based Lahiri then fired three birdies (fifth, seventh, eighth) over the last five holes to turn in a solid 69.

Lahiri said, “I want to make use of my good form during this tournament. Even though I had a second place finish last week, my hitting is even better this week. The rough is up at this course this time around and one cannot afford to hit it even five to six yards left or right.”

Ranjit Singh Rathore, A S Lehal, Sheeraz Kalra and Vijay Kumar shot identical scores of 69 to join Lahiri in tied second place.

Mukesh Kumar, Harmeet Kahlon, Mandeo Singh Pathania, Amardip Sinh Malik, Amritinder Singh, Sanjay Kumar and Manav Jaini are tied seventh at two under 70.

Courtesy: Nikhil Kalaan