The five players bunched in tied third place at five-under 66 included Sri Lankan N. Thangaraja, Bangladesh\u2019s Md Muaj, Lucknow\u2019s Sanjeev Kumar, Chandigarh\u2019s Akshay Sharma, and Greater Noida\u2019s Saptak Talwar.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The highest-placed among the Bengaluru-based players were Mari Muthu R., Chikkarangappa S., and Manoj S., all of whom shot 69 to be placed tied 19th. Defending champion Abhinav Lohan, too, was placed tied 19th.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Viraj Madappa, who became the youngest Indian to win an international event at the age of 20 at KGA in 2018, made a steady start with three birdies and a bogey on the back nine. Madappa then powered ahead with five birdies and a bogey on the front nine, where he produced some exceptional wedge shots and a 55-foot conversion.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cI missed my practice round here at KGA as I was playing overseas last week. However, my familiarity with KGA always helps as I\u2019ve played here for a number of years. My caddie, Selva, is also from KGA, and he knows the course by the back of his hand. I feel these factors contributed to my getting off to a good start today despite missing out on my practice round,\" Viraj said.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cI\u2019ve played some good golf after winning on the PGTI earlier this year, but I\u2019ve somehow not put together four good rounds. That\u2019s what I\u2019ll look to do this week,\u201d he added.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cI missed my practice round here at KGA as I was playing overseas last week. However, my familiarity with KGA always helps as I\u2019ve played here for a number of years. My caddie, Selva, is also from KGA, and he knows the course by the back of his hand. I feel these factors contributed to my getting off to a good start today despite missing out on my practice round,\" Viraj said.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cMy driving and putting were excellent today. That\u2019s exactly what is required here at KGA. I feel I\u2019ve been in a good rhythm of late. I also had some top-10s recently, and I\u2019m feeding off the confidence gained from those results,\u201d Tamang said.<\/p>\r\n\r\n