Amardip Singh Malik has never had it so good on the opening day here. The young trees, which are now tall, were expected to be a big challenge for the golfers on the tight CIAL Golf Club course but the Noida player came up with an impressive five-under-67 in the opening round of the PGTI Cochin Masters at Nedumbassery on Wednesday.
It gave Amardip a one-shot lead over Mumbai’s 21-year-old Akash Modi, playing only his second season as a pro, who was just behind the leader with a four-under-68.
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“It’s great to be back in Kochi once again. This course poses quite a challenge as it’s getting tougher every year with the trees growing. One needs to be a good ball-striker to succeed here,” said Amardip, a two-time winner on the PGTI, who began the day with a birdie on the first and followed it up with two more on the front-nine.
“I struck it well today and kept landing it close, so there’s not much to be critical about as far as today’s game is concerned.”
Delhi’s Honey Baisoya, Chandigarh’s Abhijit Singh Chadha, Bengaluru’s Syed Saqib Ahmed, Pune’s Sameer M. Shaikh and Om Prakash Chouhan of Mhow were tied for the third spot at three-under-69.
But some big names, including Delhi’s reigning Order of Merit champion Shamim Khan was in the joint 16th spot with 71 while defending champion Mukesh Kumar (MP) had a 77 to be tied 70th.
The scores (par 72): 1. Amardip Singh Malik (67), 2. Akash Modi (68), 3. Honey Baisoya, Abhijit Singh Chadha, Syed Saqib Ahmed, Sameer M. Shaikh, Om Prakash Chouhan (all 69)
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