Amardip sets record, takes round 1 lead

Noida’s Amardip Malik, also known to his friends and fellow golfers as ‘ Hammer- Deep’, lived up to his name as he hammered a sparkling nineunder62 to take the first round lead at the PGTI's season- opener, the Golconda Masters Golf Championship 2019 Powered By Telangana Tourism being held at the Hyderabad Golf Club.

In the process, Malik also equaled two- time Golconda Masters champion and good friend Ajeetesh Sandhu's course record which the latter had set in 2016.

Patna's Aman Raj, who recently qualified for the Asian Tour and Bengaluru's M Dharma were both placed tied second thanks to their topnotch efforts of sevenunder64.

Amardip Malik, a twotime champion on the PGTI, had an actionpacked day as he sank an incredible 12 birdies in exchange for a bogey and a double- bogey. The 33year- old had a disastrous start to the tournament after he hit it out of bounds on the first hole to drop a double- bogey.

Thereafter, it was oneway traffic for Amardip barring a bogey on the fifth, as he not only staged a remarkable comeback but also finished with the best round of the day courtesy his exceptional ball- striking and iron- play and consistent putting. He made birdies on all the four par- 5s finding the green in two shots on three of them.

Malik made some quality chip- putts for birdies and missed out on a holeinone by a whisker on the seventh. His accurate approaches on a couple of holes set up birdie putts within five feet and he also drained three birdies from a range of 15 to 30 feet. Amardip followed up his three- under on the front- nine with an outstanding six- under on the back- nine.

Aman Raj, fresh from the high of having qualified for the Asian Tour for the first time, mixed nine birdies with two bogeys to close round one in tied second. M Dharma traded eight birdies for a bogey to be tied second.

This is probably the most satisfying round for me in about four years. Golfers usually complain about leaving out shots on the course. I felt I made up three to four shots — AMARDIP MALIK

Golfer