Arjun Singh leads Honda-Siel golf

Arjun Singh, who was thinking of an alternate career less than a year back, shot a brilliant eight-under 64 to take sole possession of the lead after the first round in the Rs three million Honda-Siel PGA championship, which began at the par-72 Delhi Golf Club on Thursday.

In the biggest prize-money event on the Hero Honda Indian Golf Tour, Arjun played a bogey-free round and opened a two-stroke lead over Mukesh Kumar, the current leader of Order of Merit.

Tied for the third place were twice Honda-Siel PGA champion Uttam Singh Mundy and Shiv Prakash of Kanpur at four-under 68.

Gaurav Ghei, Rohtas Singh, Amit Dube and Harmeet Kahlon were involved in a four-way tie for the fifth place at three-under 69. Defending champion Jyoti Randhawa shot a one-under 71 and was tied for the 17th place, while Daniel Chopra of Sweden, winner of the inaugural event, was joint ninth at two-under 70.

Vivek Bhandari, the pre-tournament favourite, faded away with a two-over 74 and in 36th place.

Arjun Singh played hot golf as he made three birdies on the front nine and five on the back. He began with birdies on the first two holes after nailing his approach shots to less than three feet. On the fifth and sixth, he missed his birdie putts by a couple of rolls, before holing a 10-footer on the par-3 seventh. On the back nine, Arjun birdied the 10th, 11th, 13th, 14th and 18th, and missed birdie putts from five-feet on 12th and 15th.

"I wanted to start well and would have been happy breaking 70. This was just too great. I was hitting the ball unbelievably well," said Arjun, who missed almost all action in last three years because of a niggling back injury.

"Thinking about those days, when I almost gave up the game in frustration, makes this a very satisfying moment. I am really happy that I have managed to play better every time I make a comeback," added the Delhi pro, currently ranked 22nd in Asia.

Arjun also credited close friend and fellow professional KPS Sekhon for the score.

"I was having a few problems at the driving range yesterday and asked KP to look at my swing. He immediately noticed a tiny fault in my alignment. I was standing shut. The moment I corrected that, I started hitting the ball beautifully. I have to thank KP," said Arjun, whose 64 was a career-best round.

Mukesh, who finished runner-up in the last two events on the Hero Honda Indian Golf Tour, exploited the two par-5s on the front nine and as two-under at the turn. On the back nine, he chipped-in for a birdie on the 13th and then added birdies on the 14th, 15th and 18th to finish at six-under 66.

"The fact that I lost those two titles is hurting me a lot. I am playing very well and I should not have lost them. I have to do well here to overcome the disappointment," said Mukesh, who played with a hot putter and completed the round in just 23 putts.

Jaini, Simarjeet lead amateurs: Manav Jaini of Delhi Golf Club and Simarjeet Singh, an employee of Indian Oil, posted superb scores of four-under 68 to lead the amateurs.

Scores (after 18 holes): 64 _ Arjun Singh; 66 _ Mukesh Kumar; 68 _ Uttam Singh Mundy, Shiv Prakash, ; 69 _ Gaurav Ghei, Amit Dube, Rohtas Singh, Harmeet Kahlon; 70 _ V Arumugam, Daniel Chopra, Amritinder Singh, Digvijay Singh, Mohammed Nawab, Rahil Gangjee, Suleman Ali, Ranjit Singh; 71 _ Gaurav Diwan, Jyoti Randhawa, Vishal Singh.

Amateurs: 68 _ Manav Jaini, Simarjeet Singh; 71 _ Amit Luthra; 73 _ Kapil Dev, Keshav Mishra