Sachin establishes lead with 64 on day 1 of PGTI Players Championship

KOLKATA: Delhi's Sachin Baisoya posted a brilliant six-under 64 to establish himself as the leader on day one of the Rs 1 crore TATA Steel PGTI Players Championship 2023.

PGTI Qualifying School champion Aryan Roopa Anand of Bengaluru and US-based Varun Chopra, both rookies, were tied second at five-under 65 along with Om Prakash Chouhan of Mhow, Chandigarh's Angad Cheema, Delhi's Ajay Baisoya and Patna's Aman Raj.

Gaurav Pratap Singh (66) of Noida and Sunhit Bishnoi (67) of Gurugram fired hole-in-ones during their rounds.

Gaurav (hole-in-one on 11th) and Sunhit (hole-in-one on 6th) were placed tied eighth and tied 14th respectively.

Sachin Baisoya, who has had a decent run in the last two seasons having finished inside the top-25 of the PGTI Rankings, carried forward the momentum on Tuesday with a round that featured seven birdies and a bogey.

Baisoya, a bronze winner for Delhi in the team event at the 2022 National Games, landed it within five feet on five occasions thanks to his accurate approach shots and chipping.

The 27-year-old Sachin, who accumulated seven top-10s over the last two seasons including two third place finishes, said, "I had one of my best ball-striking days today and that helped me score well on this relatively narrow layout. My tee shots and approach shots turned out as I had visualised them."

"I've played well over the last two seasons and the podium finish at the National Games in 2022 gave me further impetus. I'm just trying to continue with the same mindset and hopefully the results will follow."

Among the prominent names, Udayan Mane was tied 20th at a score of 68, Khalin Joshi was tied 32nd at 69 and defending champion Yuvraj Singh Sandhu was tied 60th at 71.