Golfer Bhullar holds joint lead at Macau Open

Macau Oct 19 (IANS) Indian golfer Gaganjeet Bhullar carded a flawless seven-under 64 to share the opening-round lead with South Koreans Yikeun Chang and Giwhan Kim at the Macau Open here on Thursday.

Bhullar a former winner of the tournament in 2012 posted seven birdies while Kim was equally impressive at the Macau Golf and Country Club.

"It was a good round overall. I hit the ball really good. I just kept on giving myself birdie opportunities and the game went accordingly to my plan. The putter went a bit cold on my back nine. I didn t hole any birdie putts coming in but I gave myself a lot of good looks " Bhullar said in an Asian Tour release.

Another in-form Indian player Ajeetesh Sandhu signalled his strong intentions of winning a third straight title when he signed for a 66 to trail by two shots in fourth place with Thailand s Danthai Boonma at the $500 000 Asian Tour event.

Chinese Taipei s Hung Chien-yao Filipino ace Angelo Que and Wolmer Murillo of Venezuela who just won his maiden Asian Development Tour (ADT) title last week are three shots off the pace in tied-sixth position.

Defending champion Pavit Tangkamolprasert of Thailand battled to a 72 to tie in 47th place while reigning Order of Merit champion Scott Hend of Australia came in a further shot back in tied-65th position at the Macau Open which is celebrating its 19th edition this week.

India s S. Chikka and Shubhankar Sharma were tied at the 13th spot with a 69 apiece.

Chiragh Kumar Rashid Khan Jyoti Randhawa and Khalin Joshi scored 70 each to be tied at the 25th position.

--IANS
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