Simarjeet takes early lead
Tour veteran Simarjeet Singh rolled back the years at the Delhi Golf Club as he took the first round lead at the Delhi NCR Cup 2017 after carding a marvellous threeunder 69.
Taking inspiration from his uncle S.S.P. Chawrasia’s successful Indian Open defense, Sunit Chowrasia is part of a quartet of amateurs who were locked at even-par 72.
Dhruv Sheoran, who won the PGTI Q-School earlier this year but chose to retain his amateur status, along with Giriraj Singh Khadka and Zubin Nijhawan shared second place with the newest Chowrasia on the scene.
Defending champion Yashas Chandra shrugged off his disappointment of the Open as he stayed within touching distance after carding one-over par 73 tied in sixth place with Amir Khan and local lad Aniket Sawant.
Noida based Simarjeet was in control with back-to-back opening birdies. On the third, he temporarily lost focus as he carded a bogey 5 but regained focus with two further birdies to put some distance between him and the chasing pack. “I just found my rhythm today and hit the ball clean from the off” said the leader. He added, “After a miss in Pune, I’m hoping to see it through this week.”
In the Delhi State Championship, Aniket Sawant leads Kshitij Naved Kaul and Saarthak Chhibber by one stroke followed by Vinay Kumar Yadav in fourth place at 76. Top scores: 69 Simarjeet Singh, 72 Sunit Chowrasia, Dhruv Sheoran, Giriraj Singh Khadka, Zubin Nijhawan; 73 Yashas Chandra, Amir Khan, Aniket Sawant; 74 Kshitij Naved Kaul, Saarthak Chhibber, Pukhraj Singh Gill, Amrit Lal, Shravan Desai, Hemant Yadav, Harimohan Singh; 75 Keshav Mishra