Panchkula, Oct 18 Bengaluru-based Rahil Gangjee, who bagged two international titles earlier this year, continued his sizzling form with a superb nine-under 63 to take the first-round lead at the Rs 1 crore Haryana Open being played at the Panchkula Golf Club (PGC).
Ahmedabad’s Varun Parikh came up with a personal best score of eight-under 64 to be placed second.
Defending champion Jairaj Singh Sandhu of Chandigarh was tied for third at seven-under 65 along with teenage rookie Anshul Kabthiyal, N Thangaraja, Dhruv Sheoran and Kshitij Naveed Kaul.
Chandigarh’s Harendra Gupta was the other Tricity golfer in the top-10 as he carded a 67 to be tied ninth.
The seasoned Rahil Gangjee, currently fourth on the PGTI Ranking with five top-10s on the PGTI this season, stamped his authority on day one with an eagle and eight birdies at the expense of a lone bogey.
Forty-six-year-old Rahil, a winner of five international titles including two on the Asian Development Tour (ADT) this year, began his day from the 10th hole and scored five birdies on the back-nine that featured three conversions from a range of 12 to 30 feet.
Gangjee then carried forward the momentum with some excellent wedge-play on the front-nine leaving himself two birdie tap-ins. After a bogey on the eighth, Rahil bounced back by holing out his approach shot from 140 yards for an eagle-two on the par-4 ninth.
"I’m really happy with the year so far. I worked a lot on the mental aspect of my game. I’m also feeling good physically at the moment after having recovered from a couple of injuries that hampered my game for some time. I’m now looking forward to winning on the PGTI as it’s been a long time since I’ve done that.
"Two back-to-back long birdie conversions on the 18th and first holes gave me a huge boost today. I also came back really well with an eagle on the last hole after the bogey on the eighth.
"My wife Ruhi, also caddying for me this week, told me not to worry after my bogey on the eighth as she predicted I would make an eagle on the ninth. That’s exactly what I did. So I’m grateful to her for all the good thoughts that she gives me on the golf course," Gangjee said.
Earlier in the day, Varun Parikh sank three 25-footers and produced some excellent chip-putts in his round of 64 that marked his lowest score in a tournament.
Reigning champion Jairaj Singh Sandhu drove and putted well to shoot an error-free 65 on day one that kept him in the mix.
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