Hong Kong, Nov 9 (PTI) Ajeetesh Sandhu strung together a series of four birdies from the fifth to eighth holes as he compiled a 4-under 66 in the first round of the Hong Kong Open and was the best-placed Indian at tied 10th here on Thursday.
Cameron Smith, returning to Hong Kong Open after almost 10 years, shot 7-under-par 63 to take the lead with rising star Eugenio Chacarra at the Composite Course at the Hong Kong Golf Club.
Karandeep Kochhar (67), who carried on his fine form which saw him finish in Top-5 a week ago, was tied 21st alongside Gaganjeet Bhullar.
Veer Ahlawat and Shiv Kapur shot 68 each to be T-36, while Rashid Khan (69) was T-54th.
Meanwhile, S Chikkarangappa (70) was T-70 and Honey Baisoya (73) was T-115 and SSP Chawrasia (74) was T-123.
Sandhu opened with a bogey, but his four-in-a-row run of birdies saw him make up quickly. He dropped a shot on the ninth, but birdies on Par-5 13th and the par-4 16th saw him finish strongly.
Kochhar had four birdies against one bogey, while Bhullar had six birdies against three bogeys.
Smith, 30, played in this event in 2014, the year after he turned professional, and tied for ninth.
Smith made eight birdies and had one bogey. He had four birdies in a row from 14, while the Spanish star Chacarra had seven birdies and no bogeys.
Korean Yubin Jang, who only turned professional last month after helping his country win the team gold at the Asian Games, and Thailand’s Gunn Charoenkul came in with 64s, while American Andy Ogletree, Thailand’s Phachara Khongwatmai, Taehee Lee from Korea, Chinese-Taipei’s Lee Chieh-po and Harrison Crowe of Australia returned 65s.
Gooch carded a 68, while defending champion Wade Ormsby from Australia and Hong Kong’s Taichi Kho shot a 70.
Source: PTI News
