One bad shot proved dear

Rest of the round was great and I also had a good 15-footer for a birdie putt on the 17th. The last birdie putt on 18th would have been ideal, but I missed a birdie.

The work that I put in with my coach, Ajai Gupta, seems to be paying off. He has been helping me keep a positive frame of mind and even though I had a seven on the tenth, I am not getting upset because I know I played well otherwise. It was one bad shot and I paid a big penalty for it.

We have been working on concentrating on the present. I am not going to force things. I want to get out of the habit of trying too hard, because it always spoils things.

I just want to get into the zone and play one hole a time.

Coming to others on the course, it was a fine day for Indians. Gaurav Ghei was the star alongside Gurbaaz Mann. With six-under 66 each, they have a share of the lead with four others, Hur In-ho of Korea, David Gleeson of Australia, Danny Chia of Malaysia and Chapchai Nirat of Thailand. It is really a solid international leaderboard, but India have an edge with two of the six. At 71, I was 34th and hopefully I will move up.

The course was in great shape and it was a pleasure playing out there. In the morning, the course was soft and great for scoring. But tomorrow I am going to play in the afternoon, so let’s see how things pan out.