Kapur & Co start well

Gurugram, November 14

Indian golfers Shiv Kapur, Arjun Prasad, M Dharma and Shankar Das shot identical scores of a 5-under 67 to be tied-3rd behind leader Thai Itthipat Buranatanyarat on Day 1 of the $400,000 Panasonic Open India here today.

The clubhouse lead was held by Itthipat, who fired a breathtaking 8-under 64.

Kapur, the 2017 champion, started the week in high spirits as he delivered a bogey-free 67. Kapur, who teed off from the 15th, enjoyed a hot start as he birdied three of his first four holes. He added two more birdies to his card on the sixth and 10th holes.

M Dharma and Shankar Das too struck bogey-free rounds of 67. While Dharma missed a hole-in-one by a whisker on the 17th.

Arjun Atwal made a promising start with a 69 to be tied-11th along with compatriots Viraj Madappa and Aadil Bedi. Jeev Milkha Singh was a further shot back in tied-20th along with Om Prakash Chouhan and Gaurav Pratap Singh. Jyoti Randhawa shot a 72 to be tied-33rd. 

Shubhankar T-17 in SA

Johannesburg: India's Shubhankar Sharma failed to build on a superb start to finish at a 2-under 70 in the first round of the Nedbank Golf Challenge hosted by Gary Player on the European Tour today.

Shubhankar, who finished tied-7th in the Turkish Airlines Open last week, was 4-under after starting from the 10th, but he gave away three bogeys and had just one more birdie on the front nine for a card of 70. He was lying tied-17th. Louis Oosthuizen took a one-shot lead with a brilliant 9-under 65, Thomas Detry shot 66. 

South African Ernie Els was tied-4th at 68. Els got a rapturous reception as he went off in the first group of the day and soon had the crowd cheering even more. — PTI

Diksha opens 3-shot lead at Hero WPG 

Gurugram: Diksha Dagar pulled away from the rest of the field to lead with two birdies in the last three holes in the 15th and final Leg of the Hero Women's Pro Golf Tour here today. She carded her second straight 1-under 71 to get to 2-under 142 and open up a three-shot lead over overnight co-leader Ridhima Dilawari (74) who is 1-over 145 for 36 holes. Vani Kapoor (72) moved into third place at 146 and was one shot ahead of amateur Pranavi Urs (72) at 147. Amandeep Drall had three birdies, four bogeys and a double in her 75, and is fifth at 150. Tvesa Malik had a terrible round and was 151 at tied-6th alongside Thailand’s P. Supakchaya (73-78). PTI