Louis Philippe Cup: Mane, Carballo share round one top honours

Udayan Mane and Miguel Carballo shared top honours with identical rounds of seven-under 63 in the opening round of the inaugural Louis Philippe Cup golf tournament which got underway at the Prestige Golfshire Club course here on Tuesday.

In overcast and windy conditions interrupted by light drizzles, the Ahmedabad based Mane executed a stellar bogey free round sinking seven birdies on the second, fourth, seventh, ninth, 11th, 12th and 13th holes respectively.

Carballo, a former PGA tour player, sank eight birdies on the day but his sole bogey on the tricky hole 16, meant he lost the chance to take an outright lead.

Carballo, playing his first season in Asia, is in red-hot form registering five top 10 finishes this year on the ADT in six tournaments played.

Post completion of his 18 holes, Mane said, "I played a bogey free round, but the course was very challenging and for once not to be taken for granted. I am glad to be in the joint lead but we still have three more days to go. The plan forward is to execute as per the plans as the course is set up in such a way that there isn't any margin for errors."

The leaders were closely followed in tied third place by the trio of Sam Gillis of the United States and India's Divyanshu Bajaj and Om Prakash Chouhan, who returned cards of five-under 65 on the day.

Trailing the troika in tied sixth position was the local pair of Khalin Joshi, currently placed 18th on the Asian Tour Order of Merit rankings and Harendra Gupta with returns of four-under 66 and three shots behind the leaders.

Among pre-tournament favourites, Australian Marcus Both, a three-time winner on the Asian Tour, secured a place just outside the top 10, his round of two-under 68 putting him into tied 12th position on the leaderboard.

Seasoned Indian pro Rahil Gangjee, a two-time winner on the Asian Tour, shot a card of 69 to lie in tied 18th spot.

Asian Games bound 17-year-old Aadil Bedi and two-time winner on the Asian Tour, Rashid Khan of India, also had fair returns of even par, giving them a share of 28th spot with 12 others.

--IANS

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