Gaganjeet Bhullar‘s steady 4-under bogey-free round and Shiv Kapur‘s terrific hole-in-one were the major talking points of the opening day for the Indian contingent here at Singapore Open presented by The Business Times.
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The US$ 2 million International Series tournament saw Thailand’s Ekpharit Wu and Japan’s Jeongwoo Ham set the early pace during the first round, carding 7-under 64s at the par-71 Serapong course at Sentosa Golf Club. With his wife Pam on the bag, Wu shot a blemish-free round while Ham combined 8 birdies with a lone bogey to lead by 2.
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Searching for his 11th win on the Asian Tour, Bhullar started from the 10th tee in a sedate manner with pars on his first eight holes, making his first move with a birdie on the 18th, his 9th hole. He then added three more on his back nine at the 1st, 4th and 7th holes of the course to record a 4-under 67 for the Tied-6th position after the first round.
Speaking after his round on an especially hot and humid day, Bhullar was very happy with the consistency he displayed today and said, “I played good golf today, I was in the game throughout the 18 holes.”
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When asked about his plans over the next three days, the Indian star said, “I would love to continue the form and just multiply my belief for the next three rounds.”
On his approach towards tackling the fabled Sentosa Golf Club, Bhullar added, “You’ve got to be mentally strong. You’ve got to hit the ball so good, like from the tee, second shot, putting, your chipping, everything has to be spot on.”
However, it was Shiv Kapur who came up with the shot of the day with a hole-in-one on the par-3 second hole of the course. He hit an 8-iron off the tee on the 168-yard hole for his first-ever ace on the Asian Tour. The 3-time winner on the tour said, “I’ve been playing on the Asian Tour for about 22 years and I’ve never had a hole-in-one out here, so that’s my first.”
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Kapur had a bit of a rough day otherwise with two double bogeys and two bogeys, finishing 4-over for the day. “The hole-in-one at least put a bit of a smile on my face, a small silver lining on what was otherwise a tough day. That’s golf — it takes a bit from you and gives a bit back. At least I walk away with something positive”, he added.
Among the other Indians, Rashid Khan, Shaurya Bhattacharya and Ajeetesh Sandhu shot rounds of 1-under to be among the top-30 in the leaderboard, while Karandeep Kochhar was even par.
Another young Indian Pukhraj Singh Gill, who is playing this week courtesy of the pathway to International Series from the IGPL, also shot a creditable level par.
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Two shots away off the leaders were a bunch of three – American Charles Porter, Zimbabwe’s Kieran Vincent and Aidric Chan of Philippines shooting 66s to share third place.
Sharing the 6th position with Bhullar was another big group of players who came in with 67s: John Catlin from the United States, the 2024 Asian Tour Order of Merit champion; Australians Will Florimo and Kevin Yuan; Japan’s Tomohiro Ishizaka and Ryosuke Kinoshita plus LIV Golf player Luis Masaveu of Spain.
The Singapore Open is the fourth event of the season on the Asian Tour and the second leg of The International Series, the enhanced level of tournaments that provide a pathway to the LIV Golf League.
The event is also part of the Open Qualifying Series with the top two players not otherwise exempt eligible for this summer’s Open Championship at Royal Birkdale.
Indian Scores:
Gaganjeet Bhullar: 67 (-4); T-6
Shaurya Bhattacharya, Ajeetesh Sandhu, Rashid Khan: 70 (-1); T-29
Karandeep Kochhar, Pukhraj Singh Gill: 71(E); T-54
SSP Chawrasia, Sachin Baisoya: 73 (+2); T-91
Shiv Kapur: 75 (+4); T-117
Jeev Milkha Singh: 77 (+6); T-133
Shubham Jaglan: 80 (+9); T-143
