Ajeetesh Sandhu placed fourth at Taiwan Masters

TAMSUI (CHINESE TAIPEI): India’s Ajeetesh Sandhu went on a birdie spree to turn in a four-under 68 and lie fourth after the opening round of the Mercuries Taiwan Masters here on Thursday.

Sandhu, starting from the back nine, opened with a bogey but blasting five birdies on the trot from 13th to 17th to turn in four-under. On the second nine -the front side of the Taiwan Golf and Country Club course, he had nine pars to total 68.

Philippines’ Miguel Tabuena and Malaysia’s Nicholas Fung, who are sharing a room this week, returned matching fiveunder 67s to be tied for the first round lead with South Africa’s Keith Horne.

Among other Indians, S Chikkarangappa was Tied-8th with 70, while Aman Raj and Khalin Joshi shot 71 each to T-17, Rashid Khan, Chiragh Kumar, Viraj Madappa and Abhijit Chadha carded 72 each and were T-30th.

Aadil Bedi (74) was T-59th, Shiv Kapur (75) was T-79 and Jeev Milkha Singh (76) was T-90.

“I made five birdies in a row and I think that was the most exciting part of the day. I played really well and it should have been a lot lower, but that’s okay. I’ve played here a few times, not really played well here actually,” Sandhu said.

“But honestly, I think I like the looks of it. Because there’s a lot of dog legs and stuff to shape it around. Hopefully the wind picks up so it becomes a bit tougher. “Yeah, I mean, I like the layout for sure. I haven’t had a good result so far but I’ve been feeling positive especially in this stretch.”