KATHMANDU, MARCH 15

Nepali professional golfer Sukra Bahadur Rai made a flying start in the PGTI Players Championship at the Par-70 Tollygunge Club in Kolkata today.

Rai carded four-under 66 in the first round of the Indian Tour event to share the 14th position with three Indian golfers and one each pros from Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. He played two-under on either half and was three strokes off the pace.

Rai carded birdies on the second and seventh holes and saved pars on seven others to take the turn at two-under 32.

He went to five-under for the day with birdies on the 10th, 12th and 13th holes. He then faced two straight bogeys before carding two consecutive birdies on the 16th and 17th holes. He dropped a shot on the final hole to finish the back nine at two-under 34.

Rai, who has already bagged five title in the Surya Nepal Golf Tour back home, said he was satisfied with his round. 'I played well today,' Rai told The Himalayan Times from Kolkata.

'I hit driver shots well and I also putted well except for a couple of holes. Overall, it was a good round,' he said. 'I need to improve on chip shots and I hope to do well in the tournament,' added Rai, who is playing in the third event under the PGTI since earning full cards in February.

He missed the cut in first event but recovered in the second tournament to qualify for the last two rounds although he failed to leave his mark.

Indian golfer Ajeetesh Sandhu finished at seven-under 63 to remain at the top of the leaderboard.

Sandhu dropped a shot on the fourth before carding four each birdies on either half to take one stroke lead over six Indian pros - Rahil Gangjee, Khalin H Joshi, Vikram Rana, Varun Parikh, Karandeep Kochar and Viraj Madappa.

Six players - Jeev Milkha Singh, Rashid Khan, Sanjeev Kumar, Sagar Raghuvanshi, Veer Ahlawat and Sunit Chowrasia - are tied for third at five-under 65. Eleven golfers including the likes of Chikkarangappa S and Mithun Perera shared the 20th position at three-under.

A total of 132 players are taking part in the event that carries cash purse of INR 5 million.

A version of this article appears in the print on March 16, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.