Mukesh cracks course record

Mukesh Kumar rewrote one record and equaled another, with a superb opening round nine-under 63 at the Rs One million TNGF Open, the fifth leg of the 2001-02 season Hero Honda Golf Tour, in Madras on Wednesday.

Mukesh’s 63 saw him better Ali Sher's eight-under 64 (achieved twice at the Hindu Open in 1996 and 1998) to etch his name as the new course record holder at the par-72, 6,654-yard Cosmo-TNGF golf course.

Additionally, the Mhow pro joined the elite company of Shiv Prakash (Kanpur) and Sanjay Kumar (Lucknow) as the joint-holder of the lowest individual round score on the Hero Honda Golf Tour. Shiv Prakash was the first to set the record at the TSM Open at the Aravalli Golf Club Faridabad in October 2000, while Sanjay equaled the record one month later, with a similar effort at the Wills Northern Open at his home course, the Lucknow Golf Club.

Sanjay Kumar too stole a piece of the limelight on Wednesday with a fine six-under 66 which placed him at second spot one ahead of Mysore’s Rahul Ganapathy and SSP Chowrasia who each carded five-under 67. Local golfer V Wilson returned his career best round, a four-under 68 to occupy the tied-fifth spot with Delhi’s Ali Sher.

Defending champion Rohtas Singh was tied 16th at 71 while winner of last week's Hyundai-MGC Open, Zai Kipgen returned a 73 to tie at 33rd position.

Mukesh Kumar’s first reaction upon sinking an eight feet putt on the ninth was to let out a big sigh.

"I am extremely relieved," said the 31-year old. For someone who has finished the past two seasons as the top ranked golfer on the Indian Tour, Mukesh has had a very ordinary season thus far. A third place finish at the ‘Cotton City Open’, Coimbatore, is the closest he has come to winning a tournament on the Hero Honda Golf Tour.

"I really need to card a win and fast if I am to win a third straight ‘Player of the Year’ award," he said.

Indeed Mukesh couldn’t have given himself a better launch pad towards achieving that goal.

A tenth tee starter, Mukesh began the day with a birdie before carding three more birdies on the 14th, 16th and 18th. On his return journey, he birdied the 1st, 2nd, 5th, 7th and 9th to bring back an error free card.

"On the 13th, after missing the green, I chipped to half an inch from the hole. That shot convinced me that it was my day. The best shot of the day however, was a draw with a sand wedge after I was placed left of the fairway on the 9th. I sank the eight footer," he smiled.

"It feels good to break the course record but I couldn’t have done it without my caddy Raju Sharma, who was excellent in his judgement of the greens today," he added after returning 26 putts for his round.

Sanjay Kumar’s first career title came in Chennai at the Color Plus Open ’98. Ever since, though a consistent performer on Tour, he has been able to card only one more win this coming at the Servo Masters, Digboi in December 2000. Today, Sanjay set himself up for a third career title.

"I played really well. The rains have made the course really soft and the ball is holding nicely on the fairways," he said.

Sanjay’s round was studded with seven birdies amidst which squatted one solitary bogey. His birdie holes were the 1st (his starting hole), 4th, 6th, 7th, 9th, 12th and 13th, while the dropped shot came on the 8th.

"My confidence is back after today’s round," said the 30-year old whose best finish this season came at the Hyunda-MGC Open last week where he carded a 12th place finish.

Last season's ‘Rookie of the Year’ award winner, Rahul Ganapathy did his maiden title quest no harm with a 67. Ganapathy, a first tee starter, birdied the 2nd, 6th, 9th,14th ,16th, and 17th and dropped a shot on the 3rd. "I was a little nervous when I started today as I had missed the cut last week. However, with my game as good as ever, I soon fell into the groove," said the big-built 21-year old who is coached by former professional golfer Brandon de Souza.

SSP Chowrasia is on a roll. After an ordinary showing in the first two tournaments, Chowrasia returned tied-fifth and tied-third finishes at the Hero Honda Open, Bangalore and the Hyundai-MGC Open, Chennai. Today, he continued from where he left off last week. His day’s round was error free and included birdies on the 6th, 11th and 16th and an eagle on the 2nd. "I am putting really well and the greens here suit my game," said the 21-year old.

Kanitkar , Selvadurai lead amateur field: Aditya Kanitkar, brother of former Test cricketer Hrishikesh and L Selvadurai jointly led the amateur field at two-over 74 apiece. Tied-third were CV Yudhvir and Gurunath Meiyappan at three-over 75.

SCORES (after 18 holes): 63_Mukesh Kumar; 66_Sanjay Kumar; 67_SSP Chowrasia, Rahul Ganapathy; 68_Ali Sher, V Wilson; 69_Gaurav Ghei, Basad Ali, Digvijay Singh, Ajay Gupta, Rafiq Ali; 70_Feroz Ali, Gaurav Dewan, S Madhaiah, Vinod Kumar (D); 71_Chand Mian, Chini Ali, Rohtas Singh, Shiv Prakash, Vishal Singh.

Amateurs: 74_Aditya Kanitkar, L Selvadurai; 75_CV Yudhvir, Gurunath Meiyappan.