El Jadida , Indian golfer Karandeep Kochhar posted a fine round of 6-under 66 to position himself in the tied second place after the first day of the USD 500,000 IGPL Bharath Classic here.
The 26-year-old from Chandigarh is one shot behind the leader, Thailand’s Runchanapong Youprayong, who carded 7-under 65 that included eighth birdies against one bogey at the Mazagan Beach & Golf Resort.
Kochhar, a four-time winner in India, had a four-birdie streak early in the round from the second hole and turned in 5-under 31, before picking two more birdies against one bogey in his second nine for a 66.
He had added a breakthrough win on the IGPL Tour late last year with a victory in Dubai hosted by Shiv Kapur.
Sharing the second place with Kochhar were Australia’s Will Florimo and Austria’s Nicklas Regner.
Thai star Runchanapong, who came into this week’s event with a fine showing last week a third place AM Green IGPL Morocco Rising Stars benefitted from the experience of having played here, and took a one-shot lead in the AM Green IGPL Bharath Classic at the same venue.
The next best Indian in the field was Aryan Roopa Anand, who armed with confidence that leapfrogged since his win at the IGPL Congo, shot 4-under 68 despite two bogeys. He had six birdies, including three in a row on the front nine of the course, from the third to the fifth.
“I think I played really well overall. I drove it well, hit the irons well and putted well, because I think last week I struggled with my putting,” Kochhar said.
“I put in a lot of work over the weekend and the first few days on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday as well. All of that work really showed in today’s round. The course wasn’t playing that easy, I would say, especially midway through the round. It was really windy and that whole, that stretch of 12, 13, 14, 15 is not easy.
“I am looking forward to the next few rounds. The course is in great shape. It’s not short, it’s quite windy, the greens are good. So looking forward to the next couple of days.”
Other prominent Indians in the fray are Shaurya Bhattacharya, Raghav Chugh and young Kartik Singh, who all shot 2-under 70 each to be Tied-24th.
Trishul Chinnappa, Harendra Gupta, former Indian Open winner, C Muniyappa and amateur Jai Bahl shot 1-under 71 each and were T-50.
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