Johannesburg, April 16 (IANS) Olympian Udayan Mane, searching for his maiden win at the IGPL Invitational South Africa, got off to a flying bogey free start as he was tied for the lead with two others at 7-under 65 at the end of the first day. The trio were one clear off the field, but there was a big bunch snapping at their heels as six others were within two shots of them.
Hyderabad lad Milind Soni, who had a fine start last week in Mauritius before ending T-6, had another good start with a 65, as did Indian American Manav Shah, whose resume includes a win on the Latinomerica Tour.
The crowded leaderboard saw last year’s IGPL Rankings winner Pukhraj Singh Gill (66) one behind at sole fourth, while Gaganjeet Bhullar, the 11-time Asian Tour winner, the in-form Karandeep Kochhar and the upcoming Saarthak Chhibber were all tied fifth at 5-under 67.
In the team contest, the 7-under cards by co-leaders Manav Shah and Milind Soni, ensured Green Fuels Hyderabad were on the top at 14-under, while Honer Gurugram with Pukhraj Gill (66) and Shat Mishra (69) were second at 9-under.
Krishna Punjab was helped by Kochhar (67) and Harendra Gupta (69) into the third place at 8-under.
Sachin Baisoya, who ended his AM Green IGPL title drought last week in Mauritius, was sole eighth at 4-under 68, which included an eagle on the ninth. Seven players, including two locals, were tied for the ninth spot at 3-under 69 at the iconic Royal Johannesburg Golf Club’s West Course.
The five Indians were Raghav Chugh, Shat Mishra, Harendra Gupta, Ranjit Singh and left-hander Kartik Sharma, while the two locals a T-9 with them were Allister de Kock and Musiwalo Nethunzwi.
The top women in the field after Day 1 were Vidhatri Urs and Vani Kapoor, who carded even par 72 each. Both had two birdies and two bogeys each.
Mane, who played for India at the Tokyo Olympics, was on fire on the back nine after a decent 2-under start on the front nine. After birdies on the fifth and he ninth, he gained strokes on the 10th and the 11th and rolled three more in the last four holes for a bogey-free 65.
Mane, who began the season slowly in T-50 at Chandigarh, picked up momentum in Mauritius where he was T-3 and has carried on in Johannesburg. “The Royal Johannesburg is such a magnificent course and club. It is also an awesome track to play on. And it is good to get into good form early in the season,” said the big-hitting Mane.
Manav Shah has been having a good run. After a fine T-3 in Chandigarh, where he was in the hunt for his maiden win, he was T-11 in Mauritius. He has been happy with his progress and feels it could become better as the season moves along.
Shah started on the back nine with three birdies and no bogeys. The second nine was action-packed as he had four birdies, an eagle and two bogeys in 4-under 32.
Soni, who was also in spotlight in the first round in Mauritius, opened with a bogey which was followed by a string of pars but ended the front nine with a fine eagle on the ninth.
The Hyderabad golfer, who has recently taken on former Asian Games team silver medallist, Rahul Bajaj as his new coach, struck a purple patch with five birdies in a row from the 11th to the 15th and closed with one more on the 17th.
“I have changed a few things, most notably my mental approach under Rahul (Bajaj) Sir and the results are showing,” said Soni. He was T-25 in Chandigarh but in Mauritius he finished T-6, which has been his AM Green IGPL best.
Gill, who is due to play the International Series event in Singapore next week, began with a flourish as he found four birdies in the first six holes with some great hitting and putting. A bogey on the seventh was followed by an eagle on the ninth for a superb 5-under 31. He cooled off somewhat on the back with birdies on the 11th and the 18th and a bogey in between on the 16th.
Bhullar, one of the biggest stars in Indian golf, had a fine bogey free day with five birdies, but he also missed a bunch of birdie opportunities, which would have given him a chance to join the leaders. He had four birdies on his front nine to turn in 4-under 32 but managed just one more on the home stretch.
Kochhar started on the tenth and had a blazing start with four birdies in first five holes, but then slowed down. He had another birdie on the 18th to turn in 5-under. On his second nine, he had just one bogey on the second and a closing birdie on the ninth, his last hole.
Last week’s runner-up Veer Ganapathy shot 2-under 70 and was T-16, as he missed a lot of birdie chances.
The AM Green IGPL South Africa is the second leg in the three-event African Swing.
–IANS
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