Pukhraj blazes to top with bogey-free 63 at IGPL Jamshedpur

Jamshedpur, Nov 5 (PTI) Pukhraj Singh Gill stormed into the lead with a flawless nine-under 63 on the opening day of the IGPL Invitational Jamshedpur hosted by Shri Arjun Munda at the Beldih Golf Course here on Tuesday.

Pukhraj, who has come close to a win on more than one occasion, opened up a commanding four-shot lead over Harendra Gupta, Sudhir Sharma and Sachin Baisoya -- all carding 67s to share second place.

Yashas Chandra recovered from an early bogey to post a four-under 68 for sole fifth.

Pukhraj’s 63 was the fourth nine-under round of the season, though the previous three -- all by Aman Raj -- came on par-70 courses in Jaipur and Kolkata.

Order of Merit leader Aman Raj, winner of the last two events, shot a three-under 69 to be tied sixth alongside former Asian Tour winners Chinnaswamy Muniyappa and Chiragh Kumar, and Ashbeer Saini, IL Aalaap and Trishul Chinappa.

Starting from the fifth in a shotgun start, Pukhraj birdied the fifth, seventh and eighth, then reeled off twin birdies on the 11th-12th, 15th-16th, and again on the second and third, before closing with a par on the fourth.

Baisoya had six birdies against one bogey, while Sharma produced a bogey-free 67 and Gupta mixed six birdies with a single dropped shot.

Among the youngsters, Kartik Singh shot 70 to be tied 12th, while Veer Ganapathy and Raghav Chugh returned 71s to share 17th.

Pukhraj, runner-up to Gaganjeet Bhullar at the IGPL Jaypee Greens and a consistent top-10 finisher this season, left the course beaming after his best round of the year. PTI TAP PDS PDS