Bhandari storms back

But despite the late flurry by the 25-year-old, he was still four strokes away from Vijay Kumar of Lucknow and Feroz Ali of Calcutta, joint leaders at the end of 18 holes with three-under scores. The pair is followed by Basad Ali (Calcutta) and Amritinder Singh (Chandigarh) with two-under 68, and on 69 are defending champion Arjun Singh, Raju Ali (Calcutta), Sanjay Kumar (Lucknow) and Jyoti Randhawa (Delhi).

Bhandari, who overcame a two-stroke deficit and won the Honda-Siel Open by two strokes on the final day last month, was up to his last-minute tricks again. Though he dropped five strokes by the 15th hole, he did not drop his shoulders. “I think the key to my comeback was positive thinking. Even as I headed for the 16th hole, I was not rattled. I thought `These next three are easy holes. Just play smart and try to hang in there.’ It worked.”Bhandari had a superb second shot on the 16th, a brilliant tee-shot that landed him two feet from the pin on the 17th and then chipped in for an eagle on the final hole.

Vijay Kumar has been a picture of consistency. He carried on from where he left at the Pune Classic Western and hit birdies on third, 10th, 16th and 18th and an eagle on fourth. This was his fifth consecutive par or sub-par score after winning the Pune event last weekend.

“The greens are slow unlike last year. It took some time to adjust,” said Kumar. That also explained his three-putting on the second and 13th holes.

Feroz Ali, who recently started playing with a Ping set, was distinctly unlucky for he not only missed chances of taking the sole lead, but also the Mahindra Armada on offer for the first hole-in-one of the tournament. He hit birdies on second, fourth, 10th and 18th and the only bogey came on the 13th.

The 13th was a sad miss for the Calcutta pro. Feroz missed a two-feet putt for a par after he managed to get out of a bunker. But that was nothing compared to the near-hole-in-one on the second when his tee-shot by a 5-iron landed about four inches short of the cup.

Still, Feroz was the only professional who complained about the renovated 11th green. “I think it was more challenging last year. Now, it has become too easy.”

However, there was only one player to manage an eagle on that hole — Bhoop Singh of Lucknow.

Amritinder Singh, who had six birdies, but was ruing the fact that he made a double bogey on the 11th. The second shot landed on the right off the green an kicked into the hazard. He also missed a chance of hitting an eagle on the final hole when he messed up a five-foot putt. The other man on 68, Basad Ali, had five birdie efforts to show.

Defending champion Arjun Singh was unhappy despite finishing one-under. He failed with two-foot putts on the 11th and 18th, but played steadily otherwise shooting three birdies. Sanjay Kumar got his game together on the way back to card 69, securing five birdies in all. Jyoti Randhawa started very well, finishing two-under on his way out, but was unsettled by a double bogey on the 13th, followed by a bogey on 16th. However, he still ensured a sub-par score with a birdie on 17th.

Gaurav Ghei finished with par scores for the day, so did Amandeep Johl. Twice Indian Open winner, Ali Sher, had a round of 74, Uttam Singh Mundy carded one stroke more, while Rohtas Singh (78) were a few of the day’s disappointment.

Leaders (after first round): 67 – Vijay Kumar, Feroz Ali; 68 – Basad Ali, Amritinder Singh; 69 – Sanjay Kumar, Jyoti Randhawa, Raju Ali, Arjun Singh; 70 – Shiv Prakash, Gaurav Ghei, Amandeep Johl, Mohammed Yamin; 71 – Mohammad Islam, Yusuf Ali, Inderjeet Bhalotia, Chinni Lal, Devendra Patel, Gast Ram, Mukesh Kumar, Pappan, Vivek Bhandari.