Saksansin steals limelight

On a day when the big guns failed, unlikely hero Poom Saksansin shot into limelight with a blazing 64 to take a two-shot lead in the first round of the TAKE Solutions Masters here on Thursday.

Under overcast conditions and with the wind making its presence felt at the Karnataka Golf Association, the 24-year-old Thai fired as many as seven birdies after teeing-off from the 10th to seize pole.

There was good news for the Indian contingent as two unfancied Kolkata boys, Viraj Madappa and Divyanshu Bajaj followed close on the heels of the leader, carding sparkling five-under 66s.

There was some cheer for a small pocket of supporters towards the end of the day as Bengaluru's Syed Saqib Ahmed (67) ended tied-4th with Spain's Carlos Pigem and seasoned campaigner Sujjan Singh.
Saqib could have joined Madappa and Divyanshu on five-under with a par on his final hole but he ended up out of bounds first and then hit into the bunker to eventually bogey.

Local boy S Chikkarangappa and favourite SSP Chawrasia weren't at their best with scores of three-under 68 and two-under 69 respectively. The duo, though, will be eager to put on a strong show in the second round on Friday.

It couldn't have been any better for the 2016 Indonesian Masters winner Saksansin as he kicked-off his campaign in style with a birdie after making a 15-foot putt (10th).

With his tail up, he followed it up with another birdie on the 11th, chipping to within range of the pin and making no mistake after.

The Bangkok lad then assessed the course to near perfection to notch a bogey-free round, bagging five more birdies in the process to sit comfortably atop the standings.

“Overall it was a good round. My driver and irons were good but I missed some putts. I hit it quite close today but missed the putts which is quite disappointing,” said Saksansin.

“I only made one mistake and it was very silly. On the par-three 8th hole, I read the wrong page of my yardage book. I hit it over the green by 12 or 15 yards and I was surprised. I asked Siddikur (Rahman) why the yardage was different and after he told me, I realised I was reading the wrong page. It was very stupid of me but luckily I saved with a par,” quipped Saksansin who brought out his putter 25 times through the round.

On a day when most of the big names failed to make an impact, it was Madappa and Divyanshu who came to the fore.

The 19-year-old Madappa, who is currently pursuing a BCom degree in Jain Univeristy, parred his first and then shot a fantastic eagle on his second hole.

Divyanshu, on the other hand, started from the first tee in measured fashion with par scores on the first four holes before notching his first birdie on the fifth.

The 27-year-old then nailed an eagle on the 11th before grabbing three more birdies in a bogey-free round. Seasoned campaigners Shiv Kapur (70), Jyothi Randhawa (69) and Gaganjeet Singh Bhullar (69) will be looking for an improved show on Friday, while Jeev Milkha Singh (79) faces a Herculean task to make the cut.

DH News Service

Results (After 18 holes, Indian unless specified): 64: Poom Saksansin (Tha); 66: Viraj Madappa, Divyanshu Bajaj; 67: Syed Saqib Ahmed, Carlos Pigem (Esp), Sujjan Singh; 68: Scott Barr (Aus), S Chikkarangappa, Todd Sinnott (Aus), Khalin Joshi, Om Prakash Chouhan.