Shubhankar takes lead at CG Open

Shubhankar Sharma of Panchkula, currently third in the Rolex Ranking, resumed his pursuit for the number one spot on the PGTI with a dazzling seven-under-63 at the CG Open that gave him the first round lead here today.
Bengaluru's C Muniyappa and Delhi's Kapil Kumar were a stroke off the lead in tied second place at the Rs 1 crore event being played at the Bombay Presidency Golf Club (BPGC).
Sri Lankan K Prabagaran also hogged the limelight in round one as a result of a rare albatross on the 18th. He closed the day with an even-par-70 to be placed tied 42nd.

Shubhankar, who recently sealed his card for next year's Asian Tour season, is now targeting the top position on the PGTI.
The 20-year-old Shubhankar began the week with a birdie after narrowly missing a 15-feet eagle putt on the first. He then found the water hazard on the fourth to drop back to even-par.
It was then one-way traffic for the three-time winner on the PGTI as he picked up five birdies and an eagle thereafter. One of his top shots of the day came on the 15th where he almost holed his approach from 160 yards before settling for a tap-in birdie.

"It was a solid day altogether. I just had one bad hole where I found the water. I missed only two greens today. I played really well on the back-nine. However, my front-nine was not as good. That's an area I'd like to improve on," Shubhankar said.

"I feel it's going to be a low-scoring week and putting will hold the key. I'm hoping to carry forward the form from the Asian Tour. Having almost secured my Asian Tour card, I'm now in a relaxed frame of mind and looking to pursue my other goal of winning the Rolex Ranking title."

Both C Muniyappa and Kapil Kumar scored seven birdies against a lone bogey to lie tied second at six-under-64. Muniyappa was in hot form with the putter as he drained three 20-footers and came close to converting another 25-footer.
Gurgaon's Deepinder Singh Kullar, Delhi-based Shivendra Singh Sisodia and Chandigarh's Harendra Gupta occupied tied fourth place with scores of 65.