Four share lead in Hero Chandigarh Open

The top three ranked golfers on last season's Order of Merit -- Vijay Kumar, Feroz Ali and Mukesh Kumar were joined by Gaurav Ghei on top of the leaderboard at the end of the first day of the Rs 10 lakh Hero Golf Chandigarh Open, which started at the par-72, 7,052 yard Chandigarh Golf Club, on Wednesday.

The foursome shot three-under 69 apiece to share the lead, while Vishal Singh of Jaipur occupied the fifth spot at two-under 70. Twice defending champion Amritinder Singh at one-under 71 was placed at joint-sixth spot while Jeev Milkha Singh was in joint 18th position at one-over 73. The Hero Golf Chandigarh Open forms the sixth leg of the Wills Sport Golf Tour and is sponsored by Hero Cycles.

Last season's Mahindra Player of the Year Mukesh started from the first tee and carded birdies on the second, third 12th, 16th (a grand 14-footer putt) and the 17th, but a double bogey on the fifth denied him the sole lead.

"My driver placed my ball behind a tree and though I recovered, I missed a three-feet putt on the green," said Mukesh of his double bogey. "As regards my game, the hitting was good and my second shots even better," said the Mhow-based golfer, who carded 16 regulations for the day. Last week, Mukesh led the field along with Jyoti Randhawa in the Honda Siel-Nike PGA Championship after the third round, before slipping on the final day to finish joint-fifth.

Feroz, who finished joint-third at the Honda Siel-Nike event in Delhi, started on the first tee and proceeded to return four birdies, these coming on the fourth, 12th, 13th and 16th where he clipped-in from 30 feet. His lone bogey occurred on the seventh thanks to his 3-wood tee shot striking a tree and placing his ball on the first fairway.

"The course is in excellent condition and the game is shaping up well," said the second ranked golfer on last season's Order of Merit. "The secret of playing well on this course is to keep the ball straight and in the centre of the fairway," he added.

Vijay was at his confident best on Wednesday. The leading prize money winner for the past three seasons, after starting on the 10th, birdied the 13th and 18th on his front-nine, and followed it up with three more birdies on the second, sixth and ninth. What would have been a blemish-free card, was spoilt by an unfortunate double bogey on the fifth where he entered the rough with his drive. Vijay hacked out to eventually three-putted from 10 feet on the green.

"I changed my swing this week and that has helped immensely. Till last week, I was not completing my swing," said the Lucknow-based golfer.

Gaurav Ghei started from the first and made birdies on the second and third in his outward journey, and 13th and 16th while making his return. The lone bogey came on the long par-5 seventh, where his tee shot hit the tree in the middle of the fairway. "I putted really well today. I made a 35-feet uphill birdie putt on the third, a 20-footer on the 13th and a 15-footer on the 16th," said the golfer who has two runner-up finishes in the three events he has played on the Tour this season. Ghei had also finished runner-up to Amritinder in a playoff last season here.

Jeev Milkha Singh had five bogeys and four birdies in his round of one-over 73. "My game lacks consistency. It will take at least four more tournaments for me to completely recover my form and confidence," said the only Indian on the European PGA Tour.

SCORES (after 18 holes): 69 _ Mukesh Kumar, Feroz Ali, Vijay Kumar, Gaurav Ghei; 70 _ Vishal Singh; 71 _ Ali Sher, Rafiq Ali, Sanjay Kumar, Amritinder Singh, Digvijay Singh, Shiv Prakash; 72 _ Asgar Ali, Bhoop Singh, Gursimran Singh Sethi, Pappan, Rahul Ganapathy, Rajiv Kumar; 73 _ Jeev Milkha Singh, Harmeet Kahlon, Indrajit Bhalotia, Mohd Maqbool, Praduman Guleria, Rajesh Choudhary, Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia, UttamSingh Mundy, Yusuf Ali, Amit Dube; Amateurs: 73 _ Girish Virk; 74 _ Manav Das; 75 _ Harinder Gupta, Jaideep Patwardhan