Mission Hills (China), Oct 29 (IANS) Young Indian golfer Rashid Khan, fresh from his win at the Singapore Amateur Open last week, rallied on the back nine with three birdies to open with a solid one-under 71 in the first round of the inaugural 72-hole Asian Amateur golf championships here Thursday.
Rashid, one of the six Indians in the field, was tied for 13th. He was six shots behind Han Ren of China, who led the field with a seven-under 65. Korea’s Han Chang-won was second with a six-under 66.

Rashid, twice winner of the Faldo Series Asia, said: “I really felt like I played well and could have scored much lower. I had putts of less than 10 feet on the last four holes and missed the all.”

“I struggled with the green speeds and lines. The first five holes I was always short and that was frustrating. I will adjust though and am looking forward to tomorrow. However, I am happy. It is a good start and I am in a good position - it is much better than shooting 76 and putting myself out of it. I won the Singapore Amateur Open last week, so my game is good and I am playing well.”

The other Indian scores were Vikram Rana (75), Gagan Verma (76), Moin Malak (77), Arshdeep Tiwana (78) and Abhishek Jha (79).

Rashid opened with four pars in a row and then dropped a shot on the fifth and again a second bogey on ninth. He turned in two-over, but quickly made amends on the back nine. He birdied the 10th, 12th and 16th besides missing at least three other putts inside 10 feet towards the end of the round.

Han Ren, last year became the first Chinese-born golfer to play the men’s collegiate golf. He had eight birdies and his lone mistake of the day was a bogey on the final hole, the 18th.

Filipino Mhark Fernando, who posted 67 in the morning session was third and his countryman, Judson Eustaquio and Australian Jordan Sherratt were tied for fourth with 68 each.

The winner will be invited to play in the 2010 Masters Tournament while the winner and the runner-up and ties will earn a place in International Final Qualifying for The Open Championship being played next year at St. Andrews.