Thaindian News

Jaipur, Jan 25 (IANS) Rashid Khan continued his sparkling form with a round of five-under 65 to take the lead after the first round of the LG Rajasthan Open Amateur Championship being played at the par-70 Rambagh Golf Club in Jaipur here Monday.
The round of 65 also gave the Delhi player a two-shot lead going into the second round.

Chandigarh’s Varoon Parmar returned his best card ever on the amateur circuit as he took hold of second place on his own at three-under 67.

Wasim Khan is two shots further back in third place with a round of one-under 69. Four players - Gagan Verma, Moin Malak, Rahul Bajaj and Imamul Haque - are tied at fourth place at level-par 70.

It wasn’t the best day for 18-year-old Rashid as he struggled to find the greens in regulation early on in his round. A dropped shot on the par-4 third, put him at one-over for the day but he turned it around after that. Good putts for birdie on the fifth and sixth saw him get to under par and he stayed below that mark through the rest of the round.

The Delhi Golf Club player made three straight birdies on the back-nine, which started with a chip-in on the par-3 11th and made his sixth birdie on the 16th to get to five-under. But in between, there were also many opportunities missed as he lost out on as many as four more birdies after getting himself into a good position to boost his score further.

Back in 2009, Rashid won the same tournament to climb to number one place on the LG Order of Merit list for the first time and has held on to that position ever since.

For second-placed Varoon Parmar, it was one of his better days on Tour. With his best finish coming a few months back at the LG Chandigarh Open where he finished just outside the top 10, the Chandigarh player is keen on consolidating on his good start to secure his best finish.