Kolkata: Om Prakash Chouhan carded an eight-under 62 to take the opening-round lead at the second edition of the Coal India Open, the INR 1 crore event under way at Tollygunge Club in Kolkata.
The 40-year-old from Mhow in Madhya Pradesh had quite a day out. He holed his tee shot on the par-three eighth, added an eagle on the par-five 13th, and mixed in six birdies against two bogeys to finish a shot clear of the field.
Sandhu chasing hard in second
Former Asian Tour winner Ajeetesh Sandhu of Chandigarh sits one back after a seven-under 63. Starting from the 10th, he made eight birdies and dropped just one shot, on the par-four first, which was his 10th hole of the round.
Delhi’s Shaurya Bhattacharya and Pune’s Kshitij Naveed Kaul, ranked 17th and fifth respectively on the DP World PGTI standings this season, are tied third on six-under 64.
A group of four are tied fifth on five-under 65: Bangladeshi pair Jamal Hossain and Badal Hossain, Greater Noida’s Arjun Sharma, and 16-year-old Kartik Singh of Gurugram, one of the youngest professionals on tour.
Local knowledge pays off for Chouhan
Chouhan, who now trains out of Kalhaar Blues & Greens in Ahmedabad, won the DP World PGTI Order of Merit back in 2023 and has also picked up a HotelPlanner Tour title. Tollygunge Club is clearly a course he knows well.
“The conditions at Tollygunge Club suit my game, and I enjoy playing this course,” Chouhan said. “I have performed well here in the past having won the last DP World PGTI event staged here in February this year, so I followed a similar game-plan today.”
He also talked through his eagle on the 13th, finding the fairway off the tee with a three-wood before reaching for his rescue club on the approach and rolling in the putt from 15 to 20 feet.
“I struck the ball well for most of the round and am very happy with where my game is,” he said.
Sandhu’s putter does the talking
Sandhu, ranked 18th this season, put his 63 down to his work on the greens and momentum carried over from last week’s J&K Open.
“I had a very good day on the greens,” he said. “There were some encouraging signs last week, although I was still a little rusty. I built on that during the Pro-Am and practice round this week, so I’m happy that everything came together today.”
Adjusting from Srinagar’s altitude to Kolkata’s humidity meant recalculating his yardages, something he said he managed to get right through the round.
His best moment came at the 14th, where a missed fairway to the right led to a low recovery shot threaded through the trees. He got it to within 15 feet and holed the putt.
“That birdie was particularly satisfying,” he said.
Sandhu has played six events on the DP World PGTI this season and also captained Rajasthan Regals to the title in the first edition of the Tour’s ’72 The League’.
Joshi and Talwar in the chasing pack
Bengaluru’s Khalin Joshi, who turned 34 on Tuesday, carried some form over from his nine-shot win at last week’s J&K Open, opening with a four-under 66 to sit tied ninth.
DP World PGTI Rankings leader Saptak Talwar shot a three-under 67 and is tied 14th after day one.
Of the 132 players in the field, 40 managed to shoot even-par or better on the par-70 layout.