India's Divyanshu Bajaj had a hole-in-one on the way to a blazing start of 7-under 65 that put him in second place on Tuesday after the first round of the 300,000-dollar KGA Challenge, the second of two European Challenge Tour events in the country.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The Indians enjoying home advantage had a good day as young Kartik Sharma and R Mari Muthu carded 6-under 66 each to be tied fifth while Aman Raj, eighth last week, and local lad Khalin Joshi shot 4-under 68.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Last week at the Black Bull Challenge, the first Challenge Tour event being played in India after 10 years, India's Om Prakash Chouhan emerged as the winner after a superb final two rounds.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Bajaj aced the Par-3 13th hole after starting from the tenth and was one shot behind the leader, German Michael Hirmer (64). Bajaj had an ace, six birdies and a bogey in his round of 65 and was tied second with Alex Fitzpatrick and Phillip Katich.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The two Challenge Tour events have meant new opportunities for Indian golfers. Chouhan, the winner last week, now has a card on the Challenge Tour. Also, with 300,000 dollars at stake, there is a lot to play in terms of the Order of Merit on the PGTI Tour, from which the winner gets a card to the Tour.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
C. Muniyappa, Samarth Dwivedi and Varun Parikh of Gujarat carded 3-under 71 each to be tied 28th. M. Dharma played 2-under 70.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"It's been a long time since I shot such a low score. I was playing well and performing consistently on the PGTI till 2019 just prior to the onset of Covid. But thereafter I had some health issues due to which I struggled on the golf course. I've addressed the health problems with some changes in my lifestyle such as restrictions in my diet. These changes along with my self-belief have helped me get my game back on track," said Divyanshu, who is yet to win on the pro Tour.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"I was very stable from there on and kept the errors out of my game even though I missed a couple of birdie opportunities from 10 feet on the front nine," he added.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Leader Hirmer said, "I got off to a great start, my putter was really hot and I was in a nice flow this morning. I hit some good irons today and stayed patient. Last week I played well but didn't make my putts. It was nice to see some putts drop today."<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"I was very stable from there on and kept the errors out of my game even though I missed a couple of birdie opportunities from 10 feet on the front nine," he added.<\/p>\r\n\r\n