Mukesh Kumar scorches course for record

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI, SEPT. 5. It wasn't a good enough response to the prayers of the people living in a rain-starved city. But it was a fair response to the wishes of a bunch of golfers. And not long after nature showered its blessings on the Cosmo-TNGF golf course here on Tuesday night, the big guns of the Hero Honda Tour were shooting from the hip gleefully, so to say.

With the man from Mhow, Mukesh Kumar, leading the way with a blistering nine under 63, the result of a blemishless round of golf that saw him break Ali Sher's course record - set in The Hindu Open in 1996 and matched by the same player in 1998 - 20 pros broke par on a marvellous opening day in the Rs. 10 lakh Tamil Nadu Golf Federation tournament on Wednesday.

The spectacular first round scores can be largely attributed to the sharp showers that the city experienced on Tuesday night. The rain softnened the fairways and the greens held wonderfully well.

Looking out of his hotel window on Tuesday night, Mukesh Kumar, who has always enjoyed playing on the Cosmo course, must have been licking his lips in anticipation. Little wonder he came up with the finest round of his career, something that saw him match the all course Tour record for lowest score held jointly by Shiv Prakash of Kanpur and Sanjay Kumar from Lucknow.

``I knew early in the round that I had the right feel. But even then this is amazing. It feels great to play like this and break the course record,'' said Mukesh Kumar who acknowledged the help he received from his caddie Raju Sharma whose advice on the greens proved crucial to his fortunes.

Sanjay Kumar, who shot a six under 66, is placed second while Rahul Ganapathy from Karnataka and S.S.P. Chaurasia from Kolkata share the third spot after rounds of 67. Two time Indian Open champion Ali Sher and the local lad V. Wilson shot four under par 68s to share the fifth place.

So good were the scores during the day that if the cut were applied after the first round rather than the second, the axe would have fallen on anyone who failed to shoot 74 or less!

Mukesh Kumar played the sort of golf that all top pros dream of each morning but seldom get to play in championship conditions. He knew that it was going to be his day the moment he chipped to within an inch of the hole on the 13th.

From there he fired eight birdies over 14 holes on a day when he had started on the 10th with a birdie. Quite the most amazing shot was with the sand wedge from the left of the fairway on the ninth.

Player of the Year on the Indian tour for two years in a row, this sort of round would spur the 31-year-old on to a possible hat-trick.

Sanjay Kumar shot seven birdies and lost a solitary stroke on the eighth for a 66 while Rahul Ganapathy, after failing to make the cut in his previous tournament, made amends with a superb 67 which featured six birdies. As for Chaurasia, he had an eagle on the second and three birdies in an error-free round.

Aditya Kanitkar from Pune and L.Sevadurai from Vizag lead the amateur field. Both turned in cards of 74s. Local amateurs Gurunath Meiyappan and C.V. Yudvir share the third place with 75.

Former India cricket captain Kapil Dev shot a six over 78.

Leading pro scores: 63 - Mukesh Kumar; 66- Sanjay Kumar; 67 - Rahul Ganapathy, S.S.P.Chaurasia; 68 - Ali Sher, V.Wilson; 69 - Ajay Gupta, Basad Ali, Digvijay Singh, Gaurav Ghei, Rafiq Ali; 70 - Gaurav Diwan, S.Madaiah, Firoz Ali, Vinod Kumar.

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