Chaudhri sets the early pace in Noida

The Noida Golf Course player had managed to hold on in the last few tournaments to keep his tour card in 2007 with a 56th place finish on the money list. In 2008,he fell to 66th,and with the top-60 retaining their cards,only made it to the current season through the qualifying school in January.

A win here will work wonders not just for the 30-year-old’s flailing confidence,but also his prospects for the coming season. “This round will do a lot of good to my confidence as I have struggled for most part of this season. My form has only picked up over the last few weeks. But having worked on the mental aspect of my game,I feel much better,said Chaudhri.

Mukesh Kumar had to withdraw from the tournament after the senior pro hurt his playing arm. Kumar was playing out from behind a tree on his ninth hole of the round,when his club hit the tree and the force of the hit was taken by his arm. “I hate withdrawing from tournaments,but the arm was hurting and I didn’t want it to aggravate,” Kumar told Sportline. “The doctor has only recommended three days’ rest and hopefully I’ll be fit by next week for the Crompton Greaves Open in Mumbai.”

Chaudhri had a quiet front nine,making a lone birdie on the seventh,an 18-footer. He then rallied with a superb effort on the back nine,sinking birdies on the 11th,12th,14th,15th and 18th,the last two putts huge 30footers. He made a solitary bogey on the 10th. “I couldn’t have asked for a better start to the event. I was hitting it fairly close on the first six holes but somehow could not sink the birdie putts. My putting picked up from the seventh hole,” Chaudhri said.

Patna’s Mohammad Nawab shot a four-under 68 to be placed second. Nawab had seven birdies and three bogeys. He was,in fact,six-under after 10 holes but bogeys on the 11th,15th and 18th put the brakes on his round. “I made some good long putts today but missed the shorter ones,” Nawab said.

Shaurya Singh,Gaurav Pratap Singh and Randhir Singh Ghotra are tied third at two-under 70,while Toran Bikram Shahi,Ranjit Singh and Shankar Das are a further stroke behind in tied sixth position. Defending champion Shamim Khan grabbed a share of 16th place with a score of one over 73. Gaurav Ghei’s round of two over 74 placed him in tied 26th.

SCORES
1 Arjun Singh Chaudhri -5 (67)
2 Md Nawab -4 (68)
3 Shaurya Singh,Gaurav Pratap Singh,Randhir Singh Ghotra -2 (70)
6 Toran Bikram Shahi,Ranjit Singh,Shankar Das -1 (71)
9 Anura Rohana,Sujjan Singh,Sheeraz Kalra,Arjun Singh,Dayal Singh,Prem,Ajay Baisoya Par (72)