KING KONG THAI LEADS SAIL OPEN IN INDIA
NEWS RELEASE FROM THE ASIAN TOUR
New
Delhi, INDIA: Thailand’s Chapchai Nirat launched his quest to end a
four-year winless run with a superb six-under-par 66 to share the first
round lead with Indian rookie Khalin Joshi at the SAIL-SBI Open today.
Chapchai,
nicknamed “King Kong” due to his big-hitting game, fired eight birdies
against two bogeys at the demanding Delhi Golf Club while the
20-year-old Joshi raised local cheers with a magnificent professional
debut on the Asian Tour with nine birdies on the card.
The
leading duo hold a one-shot lead from Qualifying School winner Chan Kim
of the United States while a further stroke back are India’s Chiragh
Kumar and Bangladeshi ace Siddikur, who signed for 68s in the US$300,000
tournament
Home
hero Shiv Kapur, chasing a first victory on his home course, produced a
magical outward 29 but came home in 40 after taking a quadruple bogey
eight on the sixth hole to settle for a 69, three shots from the lead.
The
29-year-old Chapchai is chasing his fourth Asian Tour victory, his last
being the SAIL-SBI Open in 2009 when he set a new world record for
72-holes with his winning 32-under-par 256 total.
“My
putting was very good. I made a lot of one putts, probably took 27 or
28 putts,” said Chapchai, who played alongside Kapur. “Shiv played well
on our front nine (on the back) and then I played well coming in. I
stuck to my game plan. It’s a tough course as the fairways are narrow.
But if you hit fairways, you can make birdies.”
The powerful Thai was disappointed he dropped bogeys via three putts on the 10th
and ninth holes but believes his new putting routine is pushing him
towards a return to the winner’s enclosure. “I started on 10 with a
three putt and finished at nine with a three putt, so that was not so
good. But the putting was still pretty good overall. I stuck to my new
putting routine and didn’t take too much time over my putts. I feel
confident,” said Chapchai.
After
ending 2012 as India’s number one amateur, Joshi took the plunge into
the play-for-pay ranks and won the PGTI’s qualifying school. He missed
his card at the Asian Tour Qualifying School in January but victory on
Saturday will certainly fast-track his career.
“It
will mean the world to me if I can win my first Asian Tour tournament
as a pro. I’m looking forward to it,” said Joshi, who hails from
Bangalore and looks up to title holder Anirban Lahiri who is also from
Bangalore.
The slender Indian produced a blazing finish, nearly shooting a hole-in-one on his 16th
hole of the day at the seventh and missing an eagle chance from 12 feet
at the next hole. He then slid a 10-foot birdie attempt past the cup
for the outright lead.
“I’ve
been hitting the ball well the past few weeks but the putter was hot,
made quite a few. I’m going to approach the rest of the week like how I
did today, just play within myself. Anirban is a great friend of mine
and I look up to him. I’m looking forward to doing something this week.
Indeed, this is my best round at the DGC. It was very nice.”
Chan
produced two sensational chip-in birdies on the sixth and nine holes as
he moved into contention in his rookie season on the Asian Tour, which
is celebrating its milestone 10th season in 2013.
“My
playing partners in Myanmar (two weeks ago) were telling me how narrow
it was here and I looked on-line and it didn’t look as narrow. But when I
stepped on the first tee on Monday, I kind of got a taste of how it
really is,” he smiled.
“You
have to be smart off the tee. The longer clubs you hit, you have to be
really accurate. I think I hit three three woods and the rest were
hybrids or irons off the tee. You can’t be too aggressive but it’s
definitely scorable.”
LEADING FIRST-ROUND SCORES
Par 72. Yardage 6,935
66 Chapchai NIRAT (THA), Khalin JOSHI (IND).
67 KIM Chan (USA).
68 Chiragh KUMAR (IND), SIDDIKUR (BAN).
69 Namchok TANTIPOKHAKUL (THA), Shiv KAPUR (IND), Jason KNUTZON (USA),
Abhishek JHA (IND), Manav JAINI (IND), Carlos PIGEM (ESP).
70 Jake HIGGINBOTTOM (AUS), Pawin INGKHAPRADIT (THA), Sam BRAZEL (AUS),
Ajeetesh SANDHU (IND), S.S.P CHOWRASIA (IND), Sattaya SUPUPRAMAI (THA),
Matthew STIEGER (AUS), Anura ROHANA (LKA), Panuwat MUENLEK (THA),
Arshdeep TIWANA (IND).
71 Rattanon WANNASRICHAN (THA), Anthony KANG (USA), Antonio LASCUNA (PHI),
Zamal HUSSAIN (BAN), BAEK Seuk-hyun (KOR), Peter RICHARDSON (ENG), Mohd
ISLAM (IND), Rahil GANGJEE (IND), Vijay KUMAR (IND), Shaaban HUSSIN
(MAS), Anirban LAHIRI (IND), Adam GROOM (AUS), Sudhir SHARMA (IND).
Labels: ASIAN TOUR
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