Bhullar best Indian at 8th place in Jakarta

Gaganjeet Bhullar was the best placed Indian at the Indonesian Masters today as he fired a bogey-free five-under 67 to position himself inside top-10 at the end of the first round here.
Also carding a flawless round of 68 was S Chikkarangappa (68) but he was placed at tied-14th.
Bhullar, winner of seven Asian Tour titles, is however five shots behind England's Justin Rose who charged ahead with a sensational first round 10-under-par 62.
Among the other Indians in the fray -- Shiv Kapur (70) was T-36, last week's winner in South Africa, Shubhankar Sharma, Rahil Gangjee and Chiragh Kumar shot 71 each to be T- 60th, Ajeetesh Sandhu, Honey Baisoya and Rashid Khan carded 72 each to be T-77th and SSP Chawrasia shot 73 to be T-96th.

Himmat Rai (74) was further behind, while Jyoti Randhawa (75), Sujjan Singh (75), Jeev Milkha Singh (79) and Khalin Joshi (79) are likely to miss the cut.
Rose, the world number six, took advantage of the benign early morning conditions to power his way to the top with a flawless card marked by 10 birdies at the Royale Jakarta Golf Club. It would have been a course record for the Olympic gold medallist if not for the preferred lie ruling which was in force.

Thailand's Gunn Charoenkul gave his merit battle a lifeline by opening with a 64 to stay two shots back of Rose in second place while compatriot Phachara Khongwatmai remained in the mix with a 65 which saw him share third place with Korea's Giwhan Kim at the Asian Tour's season-ending flagship event.

The Indonesian Masters is the third leg of the Panasonic Swing, in which India's Shiv Kapur is the leader.
The Panasonic Swing is an aggregate points race that spans five events -- in Thailand, Malaysia, India, Indonesia, and Japan -- where Asian Tour players can earn a share of a lucrative bonus pool.
Apart from a minimum of 20 Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points, the winner of the Indonesian Masters will also receive an invitation to play at the WGC -- Bridgestone Invitational in 2018.