Ludhiana (Punjab)[India], June 17 : Rookie Tushar Pannu of Karnal set the bar at five-under 31 on day one of the fifth event of the PGTI NEXGEN season being played at The Imperial Golf Estate in Ludhiana. The 21-year-old Pannu enjoyed a one-shot lead.
Kushal Singh of Gurugram returned a four-under 32 to be placed second after round one.
The Imperial Golf Estate is a par-72 nine-hole course where the nine holes are played twice to comprise a round. However, due to a rain delay on Tuesday, the first round of the tournament comprised only nine holes instead of 18 with the par for the course being 36.
Tushar Pannu's hot putter ensured he led the field on the opening day with an error-free round. Tushar drained an eagle on the sixth hole along with three birdies on Tuesday, all coming as a result of conversions from a range of 12 to 15 feet. He also made a great par-save on the fourth after an erratic tee shot.
Tushar said, "When you play just nine holes, the effort is to play steady and stay under-par. I was looking at two-under today so I'm thrilled that I exceeded my expectations. The putter was on fire as I sank a lot of long putts.
"I've had a decent start to my professional career this year with a few top-20s under my belt on the PGTI's main tour. That has given me a lot of confidence coming into this NEXGEN event."
Kushal Singh too shot a bogey-free round as he was close on the heels of the leader at 32.
Karnal's Rohit Narwal, Panchkula-based Abhishek Kumar and Chandigarh's Vasu Sehgal were tied for third place at three-under 33.
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