Harendra,Shamim lead

Chandigarh’s Harendra Gupta and Delhi’s Shamim Khan shared the lead at the end of round one of the Crompton Greaves Open Golf tournament. Gupta and Khan shot identical scores of five-under-65 at the Bombay Presidency Golf Club (BPGC) in Chembur on Wednesday. Md Islam of Patna finished the day in third place at four-under-66. Gupta,a winner on the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) this year,got off to a terrific start as he birdied the first hole. He then picked up an eagle on the par-5 fourth hole where he found the green in two shots. Gupta picked up two more strokes on the 16th and 18th. He made a decent chip-putt on the 16th and converted an 18-footer on the 18th to end the day with a bogey-free round.

Khan,who won on the PGTI two weeks back,meanwhile began with a birdie on the first before dropping a stroke on the second. He then enjoyed a golden run of three straight birdies on the fourth,fifth and sixth. Shamim sank a 15-footer on the fifth and a 25-feet putt on the sixth. Thereafter,he birdied the 10th,16th and 18th while bogeying the 14th to end up with the joint best score of the day.

Md Islam made an eagle on the first and two more birdies to be placed third at four-under-66. Abhinav Lohan of Faridabad and Deepinder Singh Kullar of Gurgaon are in tied fourth at three-under-67. SSP Chowrasia,Mukesh Kumar and former champion Ashok Kumar now stand a further stroke behind along with R Murthy,Ranjit Singh Rathore,amateur Karan Taunk,Ajeetesh Sandhu and Ikramuddin Shah.

The CG Open will see some of the top golfers from around the country and overseas in action,a list that includes Chiragh Kumarh and Digvijay Singh.