Indian Masters winner SSP Chowrasia alongwith Gaurav Ghei and Jyoti Randhawa carded excellent scores in the first round of the Maybank Malaysian Open at the Kota Permai Golf & Country Club in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday.
Chowrasia is well-placed and had the best day among the Indians as his 66 helped him finish day one in tied eighth at the US$ 2 million event jointly sanctioned by the European & Asian Tour. He now trails the leader Nick Dougherty by just four strokes.
Englishman Nick Dougherty established a two stroke first round lead after firing a remarkable ten under 62. Dougherty’s incredible round included ten birdies. He started from the 10th and stunned everybody by sinking seven consecutive birdies from the 16th hole to the fourth.
He also made three consecutive birdies on the 11th, 12th and 13th. Englishman Simon Dyson and Australian Marcus Fraser are currently in tied second, two strokes behind Dougherty.
SSP Chowrasia regained his lost touch and was once again at his best as he shot a six under 66 in his first round at the Kota Permai golf course to be placed in tied eighth position. Chowrasia, a starter from the 10th, made birdies on the 11th, 12th, 15th and 18th and a lone bogey on the 13th to make the turn at three under.
The Emaar-MGF Indian Masters champion then came up with three more birdies on the second, fourth and seventh to end the day as the best placed Indian in the field.
Jyoti Randhawa was a stroke behind Chowrasia at five under 67 and occupied tied 17th place. The world no. 72 began from the 10th and made eight consecutive pars before sinking his first birdie of the day on the 18th.
He then seemed to turn things around on the front nine as he followed up his birdie on the 18th with two more on the first and second. Randhawa dropped a stroke when he bogeyed the third but soon picked up the pace with birdies on the fifth, sixth and eighth.
Gaurav Ghei joined Randhawa in tied 17th place. His round of 67 on Thursday saw him start with back-to-back birdies from the first hole to the third. He then dropped a bogey on the ninth to make the turn at two under. Ghei made further progress on the back nine picking up birdies on the 11th, 12th and 18th.
PGTI members Rahil Gangjee, Jeev Milkha Singh and 2003 Malaysian Open winner Arjun Atwal registered identical scores of two under 70 in the first round and were all placed tied 53rd.
PGTI member Shiv Kapur’s opening round of two over 74 placed him tied 131st. Kapur recently climbed from 21st to eighth on the UBS Asian Tour Order of Merit after his tied fifth finish at the Johnnie Walker Classic in India. Amandeep Johl carded four over 76 to be tied 148th.
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