Cairo, Nov 11 (Golf News) Indian golfer Viraj Madappa endured a roller coaster round, that included eight birdies, two double bogeys and a bogey, to card four-under and be tied 21st at the International Series Egypt.
Madappa, who had a double bogey on Par-3 11th, his second hole of the day, recovered superbly with six birdies between 12th and the 18th.
He added two more birdies to get to 6-under, before dropping his second double bogey of the day on eighth and a bogey on ninth for a 67 that saw him tied 21st after looking good to be in top-5 two holes before the finish.
SSP Chawrasia, who had a double bogey and an eagle on two successive holes on second and third, finished the day with 2-under 68 and was tied 30th as the next best Indian.
Veer Ahlawat (69) was tied 44th while Ajeetesh Sandhu, S Chikkarangappa and Honey Baisoya all shot 70 each to be tied 55th.
Gaganjeet Bhullar (71) was tied 72nd, Aman Raj (71) was tied 91st and the trio of Khalin Joshi, Karandeep Kochhar and Saptak Talwar carded 72 to be tied 102nd.
Scott Hend continued his comeback as he shot a sublime eight-under-par 62 to take the first-round lead. The Australian, who has battled back from prostate cancer, looked like his old self making nine birdies and one bogey.
Thailand’s Pawin Ingkhapradit and Seungtaek Lee from Korea shot equally impressive 63s, while South African Jaco Ahlers and Canadian Richard T. Lee returned 64s.
Hend has fully recovered from cancer but says the biggest obstacle he faces now is a lack of confidence.
He said: "I am a 10-time winner on the Asian Tour, I am a 15-time winner around the world, I am an Asian Tour Order of Merit winner, I am second on the Asian Tour Career Money List, I have been playing golf since I was 14 years old, I know how to play, I have just got to keep telling myself that." The 49-year-old was tied third going into the final round at last week’s International Series Morocco before shooting a 78 to finish 14th.
He could easily have finished with a lower score here but missed three putts from inside four feet on the outward half and one from a similar length on the way back.
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News Source : PTI
