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Two share the lead in Wills Open

Joy Chakravarty

Rafiq Ali of Calcutta continued from where he had left at Patna, when he fired a three-under 69, to take the lead along with Vishal Singh of Jaipur after the first round of the Rs 6-lakh Wills Open, an event to commemorate the silver jubilee of the Karnataka Golf Association (KGA). The Wills Open also forms the concluding event of the 1998-99 season of the Wills Sport Indian Golf Tour.

At the par-72, 6,810-yard KGA course, Rafiq and Vishal were followed by Order of Merit leader Vijay Kumar, at two-under 70, while Gast Ram (Delhi) and Hero Golf Chandigarh Open winner Amritinder Singh were joint fourth at one-under 71. Twice Indian Open champion Ali Sher and Ajay Yadav were tied for sixth place at level-par 72.

Rafiq, who defeated Mukesh Kumar in a play-off to win the Patna Open title in the penultimate event of the Wills Sport Indian Golf Tour, carried his confidence all the way to Bangalore. He started with a birdie on the first hole, and then added another on the 7th to be two-under at the turn. In his back nine, he then sandwiched two birdies (on the 13th and 16th) with a solitary bogey on the 14th, where he duffed his second shot with a five-iron. The birdie on the 13th was a result of a fine right-to-left 10-footer putt.

"My confidence is high after the Patna triumph. That was my first title in seven years. Today, I hit 15 regulations and my putting was not bad either," he said after the round.

Vishal Singh, who is sponsored by Samode Palace, was in sparkling form in the front nine, making three birdies. He was left with a 15-feet putt after hitting a sandwedge second shot on the par-4 1st, and he duly holed it. On the 3rd hole, he sank a 20-footer. On the back nine, Vishal made his solitary bogey on the 13th, but pulled one back immediately with a birdie on the 14th.

"I played very well today. Somehing tells me that I can win this event. I hit as many as 17 regulations today. Hopefully, this will continue," he said after the round.

Vijay Kumar, who is certain to win the Mahindra Player of the Year for the second time running, after winning as many as six events this season, carded two birdies and a bogey in either half of his day's journey to settle for a two-under 70 card.

"I am pretty pleased with the position I am in right now, though I could have finished with a better score as I was hitting the ball really well," he later said. Vijay was particularly incensed at the bogey made on the 18th hole.

Gast Ram, whose best finish this year has been fifth in the Wills Western Open in Pune, began with a birdie and added another on the 5th. But he three-putted on the 8th to be one-under at the halfway stage. On his return journey, Gast made two birdies but nulled them with two bogies.

Amritinder Singh was level-par at the turn and then went one-over with a bogey on the 11th. But the Chandigarh pro's putter caught fire thereafer and he made a hat-trick of birdies from the 12th to the 14th holes, with putts ranging from 15 to 20 feet. However, like Vijay, Amritinder also finished with a bogey on the final hole.

Tarun Sardesai excels: Local lad Tarun Sardesai turned in an excellent performance when he returned the third best card of the day at two-under 70. That easily gave him the lead in the amateur's section, with veteran David D'Souza and youngster Rahul Ganapathy following him five strokes behind at three-over 75.

SCORES (18 holes): 69 _ Rafiq Ali, Vishal Singh; 70 _ Vijay Kumar; 71 _ Gast Ram, Amritinder Singh; 72 _ Ali Sher, Ajay Yadav; 73 _ Feroz Ali, Basad Ali, Mukesh Kumar, Raju Ali; Amateurs: 70 _ Tarun Sardesai; 75 _ David D'Souza, Rahul Ganapathy; 81 _ Sanjeev Mehra