Noida, Nov 18 (IANS) Arjun Singh Chaudhri of Noida fired a five under 67 at the Noida Golf Course to grab the first round lead at the ONGC Masters 2009 golf.
Patna’s Mohd. Nawab shot a four under 68, to be placed second in the Aircel-PGTI event.

Chaudhri, playing on his home course, had a quiet front nine, having made a lone birdie on the seventh. The 30-year-old then rallied with a superb effort on the back nine, sinking birdies on the 11th, 12th, 14th, 15th and 18th. He dropped a solitary bogey on the 10th. Chaudhri sank an 18-footer for birdie on the seventh and followed that up with a couple of mammoth 30-feet birdie putts on the 15th and 18th.

Chaudhri said: “I could not have asked for a better start to the event. I was hitting it fairly close on the first six holes but somehow could not sink the birdie putts. My putting picked up from the seventh hole where I converted an 18-feet birdie putt. From there on my putter was really hot as I did not miss too many putts.

“This round will do a lot of good to my confidence as I have struggled for most part of this season. My form has only picked up over the last few weeks. I feel my performances are now improving with every passing event. I have been working on the mental aspect of my game and that has helped me a great deal.”

Nawab fired seven birdies against three bogeys to be placed second on day one. Nawab was six under after 10 holes but bogeys on the 11th, 15th and 18th put the brakes on his round.

Shaurya Singh, Gaurav Pratap Singh and Randhir Singh Ghotra are tied third at two under 70 while Toran Bikram Shahi, Ranjit Singh and Shankar Das are a further stroke behind in tied sixth position.

Defending champion Shamim Khan grabbed a share of 16th place with a score of one over 73. Gaurav Ghei’s round of two over 74 placed him in tied 26th.