Just around a week ago, it was virtually freezing in Osaka during the Japan Golf Tour. But, despite the hot and humid conditions here, Chandigarh’s Ajeetesh Sandhu was quick to settle down and move to the lead with an impressive five-under 67 in the PGTI Cochin Masters at the CIAL Golf Club, Nedumbassery, on Wednesday.
Sharing the lead with Ajeetesh were Delhi’s Shivendra Singh Sisodia and Noida’s Sudhir Sharma, ahead of their nearest challengers by two strokes.
“It was three degrees when we played in Japan last week. The rain and the layers of clothing made it tougher,” said the 28-year-old, who has a partial card on the Japan Tour.
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“The conditions here are exactly the opposite of what I faced in Japan. In that sense, I think I made a pretty good start. The course here is playing better and tougher than ever before,” he said
Meanwhile, Shivendra, who had a good first round last year, started with three birdies on the first four holes and finished the day with three more on the back nine.
“I was quite accurate with the irons today, having landed it within three feet of the pin on five occasions. That helped set up a lot of birdies for me,” said Shivendra.
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Kolkata’s Feroz Ali Mollah, the defending champion, was one of the six men behind the leaders with three-under-69
Top scores (first round):
67: Sudhir Sharma, Shivendra Singh Sisodia and Ajeetesh Sandhu.
69: Deepinder Singh Kullar, Om Prakash Chouhan, Dipankar Kaushal, M. Dharma, Feroz Ali Mollah, and Amardip Singh Malik.