Resilient Vijaykumar takes lead

CHENNAI, AUG. 23. For champions, all's well even when it doesn't end well. And in Indian golf, today, Vijaykumar from Lucknow is as fine an example of a resilient champion as you can find.

In the event, no matter a poor second shot that saw him land in the bunker in front of the 18th green - from there he once again played a less than perfect shot and then missed a five feet par putt - the defending champion of The Hindu Open golf championship left the Cosmopolitan Club, on Wednesday, a happy man.

Vijaykumar's bogey on the 18th, one of two on an otherwise marvellous day, saw the man from Lucknow go into the lead with a four under 68. Raju Ali from Calcutta, who turned in a card of 69, is in second place in the Rs.7.5 lakh event.

Three players, Harmeet Kaholon, Ranjit Singh and Rezwan Ali are tied for the third place with rounds of two under 70.

It was overcast for the most part and it wasn't as humid as it can get in the first half of an August day in this city either. But, on the flip side, the wind made things rather difficult for the players.

It wasn't quite a St. Andrews swirl but seldom has the Cosmopolitan Club presented such windy conditions for the players during a prestigious event. ``I have never seen such wind here on this course,'' said Vijaykumar. ``Also, the grass has to be cut on the greens to make for good putting,'' he said.

Vijaykumar played the front nine to par after starting on the first. He made a birdie on the second but lost a stroke on the third. It was on the back nine that his play was spectacular as he birded the 10th and 15th before firing an eagle on the 16th.

A superb drive and a six-iron second saw him get within four feet of the cup and he promptly holed the putt to go five under the card before that bogey on the 18th saw him end up with a four under 68. ``I still don't feel quite as good as last year, but my putting and hitting were great today, especially on the back nine,'' said Vijaykumar.

Raju Ali, who started from the 10th with a bogey, going into the bunker and then missing a putt that was shorter than two feet, had five birdies on the back nine and a solitary bogey on the fifth for a card of 69.

``I came into form in the second half and I am glad my short game worked well. I practised a lot during the off season,'' said Raju Ali.

Last season's Rookie of the Year, Harmeet Kahlon also began with a bogey but shot five birdies. ``The wind affected my game a little bit but I was happy with the way I was driving,'' said Kahlon.

Ranjit Singh, who like Kahlon is based in Chandigarh and also finished with a card of 70, holed in from 20 feet for a birdie on the eighth, one of six he had during the day. If he had not incurred a two stroke penalty on the 16th - where he failed to remove his marker after taking a preferred lie - he might have tied with Vijaykumar.

Rezwan Ali endured no such drama as he played a steady round with three birdies and a bogey for a 70.

C.V.Yudvir, one of the city's top amateurs, fired an impressive one under 71 - which featured four birdies - to lead the amateur field, a stroke ahead of Sri Lanka's Tissa Chandradrasa, and two in front of another Sri Lankan Amura Rohana. Gurunath Meiyappan had a round of 74.

lLeading pro scores: Vijay Kumar 68; Raju Ali 69; Harmeet Kahlon, Ranjit Singh, Rejwan Ali 70; Inderjit Bhalotia, D.Raghu Vanshi, Sanjay Kumar, Shiv Prakash, Yusuf Ali, V.Wilson, Gaurav Ghei 71.

Vijay Kumar takes a closer look before going for a shot in The Hindu Open golf championship in Chennai on Wednesday.

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