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N Thangaraja dominates opening round with sizzling 61

N Thangaraja sent out an early warning to all his fellow competitors in round one of the Chennai Open 2018 Golf Championship.

By Chitrangada

N Thangaraja

Chennai, March 1: Sri Lankan N Thangaraja, the runner-up at the PGTI event in Hyderabad last week, sent out an early warning to all his fellow competitors in round one of the Chennai Open 2018 Golf Championship at the Madras Gymkhana Club Golf Annexe in Guindy on Thursday.

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Colombo-resident Thangaraja dominated the opening round with a breathtaking nine-under-61 that featured an eagle, eight birdies and a bogey. It was the joint best round of Thangaraja’s career that gave him a handy three-shot lead.

Delhi’s Shamim Khan, the 2017 PGTI Order of Merit champion, brought in a card of six-under-64 that placed him second.

N Thangaraja, eager to make up for missing the cut at the previous edition of the Chennai Open in 2016, looked in menacing form from the very start. The two-time champion on the PGTI, carrying a knee injury since January this year, was striking it like a dream and as a result sank birdies on the first four holes before picking up two more on the sixth and seventh.

The ever-smiling Thangaraja missed a hole-in-one by a hair’s breadth on the fourth and subsequently missed out on an eagle on the seventh where his chip hit the flagstick and deflected.

Thangaraja continued his surge on the back-nine with a short eagle conversion on the 12th and two tap-in birdies on the 14th and 15th. His only blemish was the bogey on the 17th.

Thanga, who represented Sri Lanka at the 2010 Asian Games, said, “It’s just been an unbelievable day. It’s only the third time I’ve shot a nine-under. This is my lowest round on the PGTI. My hitting was outstanding especially my driving. The brilliant start set up the round for me. I kept hitting it within five feet to create chances for myself. The only disappointment was missing out on two eagle opportunities on the front-nine.

“My driving has always been my weak point but since the second half of last year, I’ve made a massive improvement in that department of my game.”

Shamim Khan, also runner-up in Hyderabad last week, benefitted from a hot putter en route his 64. Shamim, who had finished tied third at the last edition of the event, drained a number of putts from 12 to 15 feet as he stitched together eight birdies at the expense of two bogeys.

Defending champion Mukesh Kumar of Mhow was in tied third place with a round of four-under-66. Noida golfers Vikrant Chopra and Dipankar Kaushal also took a share of third.

Source: PGTI Release

Story first published: Thursday, March 1, 2018, 19:37 [IST]
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