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Bengaluru: Bengaluru’s M Dharma blasted a seven-under-65 to take the opening round lead at the PGTI Eagleburg Masters at Eagleton – The Golf Resort on Tuesday. Kolkata’s Shankar Das was on the leader’s tail with a score of six-under-66.<\/p>\nBengaluru: Bengaluru’s M Dharma blasted a seven-under-65 to take the opening round lead at the PGTI Eagleburg Masters at Eagleton – The Golf Resort on Tuesday. Kolkata’s Shankar Das was on the leader’s tail with a score of six-under-66.<\/p>\n
The Bengaluru duo of Chikkarangappa and Khalin Joshi and Delhi’s Honey Baisoya were bunched together in tied third at five-under-67.<\/p>\n
M Dharma, a winner on the PGTI back in 2013, stamped his authority on day one with an imposing seven-under-65. Dharma, currently lying seventh in the Rolex Ranking, had a productive front-nine where he made four birdies and a bogey. The bogey on the 10th didn’t seem to unsettle the 30-year-old as he roared back with five straight birdies from the 11th to the 15th.<\/p>\n
Dharma, who finished joint runner-up in the opening event of the season, narrowly missed out on eagle opportunities on two occasions, the fourth and 15th, where his chip shots stopped just short of the hole.<\/p>\n
Dharma attributed his solid first round effort to the hard yards he put in over the last three weeks at Eagleton with focus on his short-game.<\/p>\n
Dharma said, “I was very good around the greens today. I made two brilliant par saves from the bunker. I believe the hard work that I have recently put into my short-game, is paying off now.<\/p>\n
“Since my maiden win in 2013, my hitting kept improving, but on the other hand, I just lost the measure of my short-game. The problem affected my game for the last two years.<\/p>\n
“In order to sort out my game, my friend Chikkarangappa, who is also my roommate on the tour, convinced me to work on my weaknesses along with him. He gave me a lot of valuable inputs as both of us put in long hours of practice at Eagleton in the run-up to this event.<\/p>\n
“The best thing about being around Chikka is that he never talks about the negatives after a particular round. He always focuses on the positive aspects and moves on. This approach of Chikka’s, has also helped me grow in confidence.”<\/p>\n
Former Rolex Ranking champion Shankar Das managed to get in just a few days of practice prior to the PGTI Eagleburg Masters as he recovered from a two-week layoff due to fever. However, armed with a new set of irons, the six-time winner on the PGTI, made waves in the opening round at Eagleton, thanks to seven birdies and a bogey.<\/p>\n
Shankar said, “It was a fantastic start to the week as I landed it within a foot of the pin on four occasions. My wedge-play was outstanding. I ended the day with one of the most amazing shots I’ve ever hit. I couldn’t sight the 18th green from the rough but played a magnificent draw around the trees that stopped a foot from the flag.”<\/p>\n
Reigning Rolex Ranking champion Chikkarangappa fired an error-free 65 at his home course to end the day in tied third. Fellow Bengalurean Khalin Joshi and Delhi’s Honey Baisoya shared the third spot with Chikka.<\/p>\n
Rahil Gangjee and Udayan Mane, two more Bengaluru-based professionals, were in tied sixth at four-under-68 along with Vipin Raghuvanshi of Mhow.<\/p>\n
Arjun Sharma of Greater Noida made a hole-in-one on the eighth during his round of one-under-71. He was placed tied 22nd.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Bengaluru: Bengaluru’s M Dharma blasted a seven-under-65 to take the opening round lead at the PGTI Eagleburg Masters at Eagleton – The Golf Resort on Tuesday. Kolkata’s Shankar Das was on the leader’s tail with a score of six-under-66.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[14916,12943,466,6113,17736,1019],"class_list":["post-28600","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-golf-golf","tag-eagleton-the-golf-resort","tag-golf-news","tag-indian-sports-news","tag-m-dharma","tag-pgti-eagleburg-masters","tag-shankar-das"],"yoast_head":"\n