Viraj Madappa and Nepal golfer Subash Tamang posted scores of six-under 65 to hold the joint lead after round one of the INR 1 crore Bengaluru Open 2025 Powered by IndianOil being played at the Karnataka Golf Association (KGA) in Bengaluru.
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The five players bunched in tied third place at five-under 66 included Sri Lankan N Thangaraja, Bangladesh’s Md Muaj, Sanjeev Kumar, Akshay Sharma and Saptak Talwar.
The highest-placed among the Bengaluru-based players were Mari Muthu R, Chikkarangappa S and Manoj S, all of whom shot 69 to be placed tied 19th. Defending champion Abhinav Lohan too was placed tied 19th.
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Viraj, who became the youngest Indian to win an international event at the age of 20 at KGA in 2018, made a steady start with three birdies and a bogey on the back-nine. Madappa then powered ahead with five birdies and a bogey on the front-nine where he produced some exceptional wedge shots and a 55-feet conversion.
Viraj said, “I missed my practice round here at KGA as I was playing overseas last week. However, my familiarity with KGA always helps as I’ve played here for a number of years. My caddie Selva is also from KGA and he knows the course at the back of his hand. I feel these factors contributed to my getting off to a good start today despite missing out on my practice round.
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“I’ve played some good golf after winning on the PGTI earlier this year but I’ve somehow not put together four good rounds. That’s what I’ll look to do this week.”
Subash’s outstanding tee shots resulted in a strong back-nine for him where he collected five birdies. Subash added two more birdies on the front-nine before dropping his only bogey of the day on the closing ninth hole.
Subash said, “My driving and putting were excellent today. That’s exactly what is required here at KGA. I feel I’ve been in a good rhythm off late. I also had some top-10s recently and I’m feeding off the confidence gained from those results.”
