On first day,rookie Joshi is cut above the rest

In his maiden Asian Tour event,Khalin shoots 6-under to grab a share of lead

For the past two years,Bangalores Khalin Joshi,had hit a purple patch as an amateur. He finished successive seasons 2011,2012 as the top golfer in the country,set a course record last year with a 10-under at the KGA,his home club,hit scores as low as 17-under in multiple tournaments,and helped the Indian team to a medal after a 48-year drought at the Nomura Cup. The accolades were enough to help him make the decision of going professional. Few are able to make a smooth transition to the professional circuit but if early signs are anything to go by,20-year-old Joshi is on the right track. He won the PGTI Q-school tournament in December,finished top-10 in his first professional event and on Wednesday took a share of the Day One lead at the SAIL-SBI Open,his Asian Tour debut.

With the most birdies 9 among the 150 pros who teed off on Wednesday at the Delhi Golf Club,Joshi has a one-stroke lead at the 300,000 event along with Thai veteran and former SAIL Open winner Chapchai Nirat at 6-under 66.

I am over the moon right now. This is the best start I could have expected in my first Asian Tour event. It will mean the world to me if I can win this week. Before the round,Gaganjeet Bhullar and others were wishing me for my debut and I cant believe I shot such a good number. My putter was red hot today and hopefully I can do more of the same tomorrow, the rookie,who was let down by three bogeys,said.

The buzz among the golfers for not using their driver on this tight course had gotten to Joshis ears as well and it was the first time in sixteen years of playing the sport that he did not use the equipment. The strategy paid off as he found almost all fairways in regulation and even had a chance of a hole-in-one on the par-three 7th which he missed by a whisker when his tee shot landed an inch short. Despite getting birdies on the 3rd,5th,7th,8th,10th,14th,17th,and 18th,he considers the par putt on his final hole,the one that let him retain the lead,the sweetest.

This was my best round at DGC in all these years and that says a lot, Joshi added.

Kapurs Meltdown

The day could have been even better for DGCs Shiv Kapur,had it not been for a disastrous quadruple bogey that cost him his clubhouse lead. Kapur had the perfect start with a blemish-free front nine with five birdies and an eagle and was well in sight of going under in double figures. However he hit the wall literally on the par-four 6th,when his tee shot first hit one of the heritage monuments along the course with the ball rolling into a bush. As he tried to chip out,the ball clipped a stone and went further back in the bush. He would subsequently miss his putt as well,finally stumbling to a three under 69.

However,his fellow DGC mates Chiragh Kumar and Manav Jaini are keeping the local hopes afloat as they are in contention with tied 4th and 6th spots respectively. Defending champion Anirban Lahiri had an off day with the putter as he dragged himself off the course with a staggering 35 putts to go 1-under. Other Asian Tour winners like Jyoti Randhawa 4-over,Gaganjeet Bhullar 3-over,Himmat Rai 2-over had worse starts.