May 11th 2010, Aamby Valley City, Maharashtra:  Anirban Lahiri produced a sizzling seven under 65 to take the honours in round one of the PGTI Players Championship presented by Aamby Valley Golf Course. The Bangalore golfer leads the field by one stroke as Kolkata’s Rafick Ali Mollah lies second at six under 66.

Anirban Lahiri’s incredible opening round was punctuated by nine birdies and two bogeys. Lahiri had a brilliant run on the front nine, where he made five birdies including three in a row from the seventh through the ninth. The 22-year-old converted two 15-footers in round one, one for birdie on the 11th and the other for par on the 16th.

“I was quite focused today and my wedge-play was top-class. Five of my birdies came as a result of hitting it within three feet of the pin. My ball-striking is also much better than last week. The windy conditions at this venue suit my game and I relish playing on this course. It’s essential to gauge the speed of the greens fairly quickly in order to shoot a low number at Aamby Valley,” said Lahiri.

Rafick Ali Mollah was equally impressive in round one. He was eight under after 16 holes thanks to eight birdies but stumbled on the 17th with a double bogey. Rafick thus ended the day in second place at six under 66.

Rafick began the day in spectacular fashion, hitting his approach shots to within four feet on the first three holes for a hat-trick of birdies. He also chipped-in for a birdie on the 16th.

Bangalore’s C Muniyappa and Vijay Kumar of Lucknow are tied third with identical scores of five under 67.

R Murthy, Abhishek Jha and Mohd. Siddikur Rahman share fifth place at four under 68.