Vijay blooms in scenic conditions

Vijay Kumar was back in the limelight after a six-under, 66 on warm and clear day at the Forest Hills Golf and Country Club, where the Open ...

Vijay Kumar was back in the limelight after a six-under, 66 on warm and clear day at the Forest Hills Golf and Country Club, where the Open got underway this morning. The nine-hole course – which is repeated from different tees so that a player can complete 18 holes proved a tough task for many. The Shivalik hills covered with big Kikkar trees, which border the fairways were daunting as a slightly mishit shot could easily lead to a lost ball. Furthermore, the undulating greens with tough pin positions added to the misery of the players. All had bogies and double

bogies, without which scores could have been much lower.

The 2002 Indian Open champion was no different. However, Vijay was in good form as he fired eight birdies and dropped just two strokes to card a creditable 66 on this tough track. Vijay started with a birdie on the first, but dropped strokes on the second and third holes after leaving his putts short. He then let loose a string of birdies on the sixth, seventh, eighth, 10th, 14th, 16th and 18th holes. ‘‘This is a challenging layout and accuracy will eventually lead to success,’’ said Vijay, who will play in the later half of the draw tomorrow.

Three-time order of merit winner, Mukesh Kumar, fresh from the experience of playing the World Cup Qualifiers in Malaysia was also in ‘good nick’ as he fired seven birdies during his round. However, three bogies saw him card a four-under, 68 to trail by two. ‘‘My hitting was good today, though my putting could have been better as I am still getting used to the greens,’’ said Mukesh who was chipping and putting in the practice area during lunch, overlooked by spectators in the club house. The Mhow based player enjoyed his stint in Malaysia where the World Cup Qualifiers were held.

‘‘It has given me a lot of confidence to participate and play events on the Asian tour as a lot of players at the qualifiers play regularly on the Asian Tour,’’ said Mukesh. He played better than some of them and considered his game as good as that of his fellow competitors. Meanwhile, Vinod Kumar was a further two strokes behind after carding a two-under-par, 70. Digvijay Singh with two wins already under his belt, came in with a comfortable 71 at Forest Hills this morning and was tied for fourth place alongside Rahil Gangjee. Amritinder Singh, Ashok Kumar, Rafiq Ali and local lad Gursimran Sethi were a further stroke behind after shooting level-par rounds of 72.