Chennai Golf: Kochhar leads the field

CHENNAI: Karandeep Kochhar shot a seven-under 65 on Tuesday to make a brisk start and lead the field in Round One of the Chennai Open Golf Championship 2022 at the Tamil Nadu Golf Federation (TNGF) course here.

Sri Lankan N Thangaraja was placed second at 66 while Khalin Joshi was third at 67. Arjun Sharma struck a hole-in-one on the sixth during his round of 69, which placed him tied-ninth. Kochhar, who made a last-minute decision to head to Chennai as he was on the waiting list for the Asian Tour event, put together four straight birdies – from the second through the fifth – thanks to some quality hitting and wedge shots.

Kochhar’s 15-feet birdie conversion on the ninth got him going with his mid-range putts, an aspect he was struggling with till then. He then added three more birdies and a bogey on the back-nine, including two conversions from a range of 15 to 20 feet.

“It is always important to put yourself in position on day one, so I am quite pleased with the start. I am playing at the TNGF course for the first time like a lot of other players, but I feel I adapted to the conditions well. Interestingly, this course is a little similar to my home course (Chandigarh Golf Club) as both courses are tree-lined,” said Kochhar.

Defending champion Mithun Perera of Sri Lanka shot a 72 to be tied-37th. Among the Chennai-based professionals, S Prasanth and C Arul were the highest-placed at 72 in tied-37th. The three Chennai-based amateurs, Aniruda Srikkanth (80), Suman Ranjeet (90) and Murali Vijay (98) were placed 119th, 125th and 126th respectively.