KOLKATA: Ajeetesh Sandhu made a welcome return to Tollygunge Club after over a decade as he scorched the course with a seven-under 63 to lead the field in round one of the TATA Steel PGTI Players Championship on Tuesday.
Kolkata's Viraj Madappa, Rahil Gangjee, originally from Kolkata and now based in Bengaluru, defending champion Karandeep Kochhar, Khalin Joshi, Vikram Rana and Varun Parikh were tied for second with scores of 64.
Indian golfing great Jeev Milkha Singh, who last played at Tollygunge as a 15-year-old junior golfer, came up with an error-free 65 to be tied eighth along with Rashid Khan, Veer Ahlawat, Sanjeev Kumar and Kolkata's Sunit Chowrasia.
Aadil Bedi, who shot a 68, fired a rare albatross on the par-5 seventh as he holed his 9-iron second shot from 156 yards. The 21-year-old Aadil, the winner of the last PGTI event at Tollygunge in 2020, was placed tied 31st along with another Indian star and Kolkata golfer SSP Chawrasia.
Chandigarh-based Ajeetesh, an Asian Tour winner, who last played an event at the venue in 2011, created several scoring opportunities for himself with his accuracy off the tee.
Sandhu conceded an early bogey on the third before rallying with eight birdies. He capitalized on all the three par-5s with birdies.
Among those bunched in tied second, Khalin Joshi struck two eagles, three birdies and a bogey while Rahil Gangjee made eight birdies and a double-bogey.
Jeev Milkha Singh chipped-in for birdie on the 12th and made some good par-saves enroute his flawless 65 on Tuesday.
