Ahmedabad: Pukhraj Singh Gill was the home star as he carded his best-ever round on the Asian Tour with a 6-under 66 card on the first day of the Bharath Classic 2025 Gujarat at Kensville Golf Resort.
Using a new putter he had bought from the Pro shop at BPGC in Mumbai, where he played last week, Gill. A tenth-tee starter had eight birdies against two bogeys in an aggressive display at the challenging Kensville course.
Gill, a winner on the IGPL Tour in Jamshedpur, is two shots behind Korean Heemin Chang who took the lead on Day one.
Playing the course without a practice round because he arrived only late last night, Chang shot an eight-under-par 64 including an eagle on the Par-4 15th hole. He had seven birdies and an eagle against one lone bogey on the Par-5 14th.
Lying tied second with Gill are Korean Wooyoung Cho and Thailand’s Jazz Janewattananond and Poosit Supupramai, who shot 66 each.
Indians had a good day with three others Ajeetesh Sandhu, Olympian Udayan Mane, Sachin Baisoya and amateur Ishaan Chawhan shooting 5-under 67 each to be Tied-sixth and Indian-American Varun Chopra also carded a 67 as eight players were bunched at Tied-sixth. It also included recent Asian Tour winner, Ekpharit Wu of Thailand.
Saptak Talwar, who divided his time between the HotelPlanner Tour and the Indian Tour, shot 3-under 69 as did veteran Naman Dawar, Sudhir Sharma and Gaurav Pratap Singh in a big bunch at Tied-17th.
This week’s inaugural US$500,000 Bharath Classic is being joint-sanctioned by the Asian Tour and the Indian Golf Premier League (IGPL) Tour. The IGPL has three more events on its 2025 calendar, while it is the penultimate tournament of the season on the Asian Tour.
It is an important week for those hoping to make up ground on the Asian Tour’s Order of Merit to secure playing privileges for next year, while the top four on the IGPL will get a spot into the final stage of the Asian Tour Q-School and a place in 2026 International Series India. IANS
Also Read: Pat Cummins set to play Brisbane Test