Bhalotia, Mukesh begin with a bang

Mukesh Kumar's vice-like grip on Indian golf will be challenged by local hero Indrajit Bhalotia after the two pulled ahead of the rest of the field with excellent rounds of five-under 65 to jointly lead the Hindustan Times-sponsored HT ProGolf 2001 Calcutta, which started at the par-70 Tollygunge Club course, on Tuesday.

In the first event of the Eastern Swing of the Hero Honda Indian Golf Tour, Mukesh and Bhalotia opened a three-stroke lead over Shiv Prakash of Kanpur and Uttam Singh Mundy of Calcutta, who were tied for the third place at two-under 68.

Veteran Rohtas Singh and youngster Suleman Ali were jointly in fifth place at one-under 69, while there was a seven-way tie for the seventh place at level-par 70.

The bunch included 1998 Indian Open champion Feroz Ali and twice Player of the Year, Vijay Kumar.

It never looked like Bhalotia's day especially when he made bogeys on the fifth and sixth holes. However, he almost burned up the course from the seventh onwards. He two-putted from the edge of the green on the eighth, sank a monster 30-footer on the eighth and then drained a 10-footer to make the turn at one-under.

On the back nine, the 29-year-old birdied the 10th, sank a 30 feet birdie putt on the 12th, and then made an eagle on the 13th after being just eight feet off the cup with his second shot. On the 294-yard, par-4 15th, his drive went over the green and he made a chip-putt for his final birdie of the day. Thereafter, Bhalotia could not sustain his form. He missed a four-footer birdie putt on the 16th, made a frustrating bogey on the 17th, and then his eight feet birdie effort on the 18th hole lipped out.

"This being my own club, I feel a lot of pressure playing here. Not because of the expectation of my friends and well-wishers, but because I know each and every part of this course and I can't believe it if I hit a bad shot. The pressure is from within. I am happy at the way I conducted myself today. Despite the two bogeys and being so wayward off the tee for the first few holes, I still managed to come back," said Bhalotia after the round.

Mukesh almost followed Bhalotia's script. He began with a bogey when he pushed his drive into the bushes on the first hole and then parred the next five holes. His first birdie came on the par-5 seventh and then there was no stopping the Mhow-based pro. On the ninth, he hit a six-iron second shot to seven feet and sank the putt to make the turn at one-under.

On the back nine, Mukesh made birdies on the 10th, 11th, 14th and 15th holes to finish the day at five-under. The birdie on 15th was remarkable as he drained a difficult, 15-footer downhill putt. Mukesh had another birdie opportunity on the 18th, but he missed a four-footer putt.

"Everything went according to my plans. The bogey on the first and the missed birdie chance on the 18th hurts a bit, but you got to expect this much of aberration. My putting was excellent throughout the round and that certainly helped," said Mukesh, who needed just 26 putts.

In the amateur section, Sanjeev Mehra shot a two-over 72 to lead by six strokes over Ranjit Singh. Anshuman Fogla was third at eight-over 80.

SCORES (after 18 holes): 65 _ Indrajit Bhalotia, Mukesh Kumar; 68 _ Uttam Singh Mundy, Shiv Prakash; 69 _ Rohtas Singh, Suleman Ali; 70 _ Feroz Ali, Rafiq Ali, Vijay Kumar, Sanjay Kumar, Shamim Khan, Rahul Ganapathy, Zai Kipgen; 71 _ Anil Samantha, Binod Pandey, Gaurav Diwan, Jumman, SSP Chowrasia, Mohd Islam.

Amateurs: 72 _ Sanjeev Mehra; 78 _ Ranjit Singh