KATHMANDU, AUGUST 23
Top Nepali professional golfer Sukra Bahadur Rai made a flying start in the Chennai Open Golf Championship at the TNGF-Cosmo Golf Course today.
Rai carded four-under 68 to share the fourth position after the first round of the event under the Professional Golf Tour of India which carries a cash purse of INR four million. He is tied with four Indian golfers -Ranjit Singh, Manu Gandas, Kartik Sharma and Mohd Azhar - and they are three strokes off the pace. Karandeep Kochhar of India carded seven-under 65 riding on eight birdies to take one-shot lead over Sri Lankan N Thangaraja, who played a bogey-free 66. Khalin Joshi of India was further one stroke behind at third place.
The Nepal No 1 pro Rai carded four-under 33 in the front nine before playing even-par 35 on the latter half. After dropping a shot on the second hole, Rai carded four straight birdies from the third and added another on the ninth before taking the turn. On the back nine, Rai faced a bogey on the 15th and carded a birdie on the 17th hole.
The Dharan-based golfer Rai was satisfied with the overall performance in the first round. "I played with a game plan and it clicked today," said Rai. "It could have been even better had I not missed out on couple of holes. But I am satisfied with the way I played on the first day," he added. "The course is little bit short and I hit the ball well," said Rai, who has made cuts in three events in his debut season at the Indian Tour.
Seven golfers were tied for ninth at three-under 69, while seven others shared the 16th place at 70. Likewise, 16 players carded one-under 71 each to share the 23rd position.
Former Surya Nepal Masters champions Shamim Khan and Anura Rohana were in the pack of 13 golfers sharing the 47th place at one-over 73. A total of 126 golfers are taking part in the 72-hole event and top 60 will make it to the money-making final two rounds after second day.
A version of this article appears in the print on August 24, 2022 of The Himalayan Times.
