Dream day for Amritinder

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI, AUG. 29. To the pros who can hit straight and drive long, on a relatively windless day - which, by the Gymkhana Club course standards simply means when a hurricane is not blowing - things can work like a dream on the Guindy course.

And for Amritinder Singh from Chandigarh, who enjoys playing on the course and is blessed with the virtue of hitting hard and straight, it was indeed a dream round on Wednesday, the opening day of the Hyundai-MGC Open golf tournament - except that it was not an uninterrupted dream, touched as it was by a spot of nightmare on the sixth hole.

Yet, for the most part, it turned out to be a superb round of golf from the talented man who plays on the Asian PGA Tour as Amritinder fired a six under 64 to get on top of the leaderboard.

But at the end of a day when as many as 19 players broke par (70), Amritinder would not have been counting his chickens...yet.

For Zai Kipgen, on a marvellous comeback following a long break because of a car accident in which he hurt his hip, is right behind with a five under 65 while S.S.P. Chaurasia shot a 66. What is more, the experienced Rohtas Singh and former champion Mukesh Kumar turned in cards of three under 67s.

The greens are in excellent shape on the course and were holding wonderfully well. The wind too was not a major handicap in the first half of the morning. And with the pin positions expected to be easier on the second day, it would not be a surprise if someone brings in a course record score on Thursday.

``The greens are in great shape and if you can stay clear of the roughs, you can bring in a good score here,'' said Amritinder. ``I would have had a score of eight under if not for the double bogey.''

That solitary blemish on Amritinder's card was the result of a shot that found the rough on the par three 6th hole. The Chandigarh golfer misjudged the direction of the wind and paid the penalty with a double bogey.

But what a round it was otherwise! Starting on the 10th, Amritinder fired an eagle on the five-par 12th, following up a good drive with a three iron that left him with a straightforward putt. He shot birdies on the 13th, 16th, third, fourth, fifth and seventh holes.

Kipgen, delighted to be just playing - forget playing well - had a birdie on the first and a bogey on the fourth but stepped up his level of play and shot five more birdies the rest of the way for a superb round.

``Today's performance has brought the confidence back. This is exactly what I was looking for,'' said Kipgen.

Chaurasia fired five birdies but lost a stroke on the 17th while Rohtas turned in a spotless card that featured three birdies.

The defending champion Rafiq Ali shot a par 70 to share the 20th place with seven others.

Yudvir and Gurunath ahead

C.V. Yudvir and Gurunath Meiyappan were joint leaders among amateurs. Both turned in cards of four over 74s.

* Leading pro scores: 64-Amritinder Singh; 65-Zai Kipgen; 66- S.S.P. Chaurasia; 67-Rohtas Singh, Mukesh Kumar; 68-Rahil Gangjee, Shiv Prakash; 69-Amit Dube, Basad Ali, Bhoop Singh, Digvijay Singh, Firoz Ali, Norul Islam Ga, Rajesh Chaudary, Rajesh Kumar Rawa, Rajiv Kumar, Ravi Preet Sidhu, S. Madaiah and Vijay Kumar.

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