Sandhu takes lead at Panasonic Open golf

Ajeetesh Sandhu's brilliant run continued with a sizzling round of eight-under 64, his best card of the year and one of his best ever at the Delhi Golf Club on the opening day of the Panasonic Open here on Thursday.

That round, which included seven birdies, an eagle and one bogey, gave him the sole lead at the end of the first day of the seventh edition of the tournament.

It was a scoreboard that had a very heavy Indian look about it. There were nine Indians in the top 13. Shiv Kapur, who wears his heart on his sleeve when it comes to making known his desire to win a title at the DGC, smiled and promised to 'play calmly' and not get too anxious, as he finished the day with three birdies in a row to move to sole second at seven-under 65.

Kapur, meanwhile, showed that despite illnesses in recent months, he was a man on a mission. Having already scooped his second Asian Tour win this season, 11 years after first one -- he did have a couple of European Challenge Tour wins in between -- he has been saying that he would love to win once more this season for his new-born daughter Veda.

Sandhu had other reasons to celebrate as he was joined by his parents who arrived last night from Chandigarh. 

"It is the first time I was meeting them since my wins in Taiwan and Japan. So, there was a lot to talk about," he said.

His father, S.P.S. Sandhu, a big influence on his career, would be thrilled to hear stories about the wins in Taiwan and Japan, as also Thursday's stunning round.

"This is just the first round. But I feel really good to be able to shoot such a low score especially on a challenging golf course like this, which can be really tough. I played really well right from the start. That eagle on 14 was a nice one," Sandhu said on his first round performance.

"I made the only bogey on the third hole. It was a tough tee shot, which went into the rough and I didn't have a shot from there. So I had to lay out on the green where I hit it to about 15 feet from where I missed the putt. It's going to be more of the same for tomorrow," Talking of his sole bogey," he added.

"I'm playing well and I'll take every shot as it comes. It's always important for me to play well at home as I've a lot of supporters this week and it'll be nice to reward them with something special."

One shot behind Kapur, and two behind Sandhu, were Shamim Khan and young Aman Raj. They carded six-under 66 each.

S.S.P. Chawrasia, who has won three different Asian Tour events here, was tied fifth along with Thaworn Wiratchant of Thailand. They were both at five-under.