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Shiv Shankar Prasad Chawrasia, one of the legends of Indian golf, gave himself the best start in any IGPL event as he fired a steady 7-under 65 to take the first-round lead at IGPL UAE presented by Shiv Kapur, as per a release from IGPL.
Playing at the Els Club in Dubai, Chawrasia, a six-time winner on the Asian Tour, four of those wins came in events co-sanctioned with the DP World Tour, had three birdies on the front nine and added four more on the back nine to take a two-shot lead over the red-hot Gaganjeet Bhullar, who shot 5-under 67, to be tied with teen star Kartik Singh, who also shot 67. Chawrasia and Bhullar were bogey-free while Kartik dropped one shot against six birdies. There was a big group of five stars, including two women, Hitaashee Bakshi and IGPL Mumbai winner, Pranavi Urs, in tied fourth place at 3-under. The other three players at 3-under included Karandeep Kochhar, Trishul Chinappa and the evergreen M Dharma. Young amateur Vihaan Reddy was among a big group of nine players at Tied-ninth at 2-under. The others included the IGPL Money leader, Aman Raj; veteran Ranjit Singh; Yashas Chandra; former Asian Tour winner, Chiragh Kumar, who balances play with golf administration; the big hitting IGPL Jamshedpur winner, Pukhraj Singh Gill; Ridhima Dilawari, who often divided her time between Ladies European Tour and the domestic Hero Women's Pro Golf Tour; in-form Shaurya Binu and the prodigious teen Veer Ganapathy. Chawrasia, who confessed that he loved playing in Dubai, said, "I love this city, where I have played a lot of European Tour events, and I enjoy the vibe here. I have a lot of friends, and the city has great golfing facilities. So, it is nice to come here with the IGPL Tour, and the 7-under round was the icing on the cake." He laughed and added, "This is the first season of IGPL, and it would be nice to own one of those IGPL Trophies." Bhullar, who has a perfect record in IGPL, winning each time he has played the Tour, was once again in great form. Without dropping a bogey, he birdied twice on the front nine on the seventh and the eighth. On the back nine, he picked up gains on the 11th, 13th, and 16th. "I am enjoying myself on the IGPL Tour. There is no pressure, and it is great to see so many young stars like Kartik Singh, who is tied with me at 5-under. Getting to play alongside so many top stars is a great education for them. As for my game, it has been good, and I will try to keep the momentum going and try for a four in four," he added. Kartik Singh, who came close to winning a couple of times in the first half of the IGPL season, had six birdies against one bogey to be tied second with Bhullar, who is one of his idols. Avani Prashanth, just coming off a successful LET season, during which she retained her playing rights for 2026, carded 1-under to be Tied-19, alongside Tushar Pannu, Harshjeet Sethie, legend Gaurav Ghei and Sunhit Bishnoi, who is coming back from a wrist injury. Tournament host Shiv Kapur carded 1-over 73 and was T-23. Jeev Milkha Singh flew in straight from Mauritius, where he was the runner-up in the MCB Mauritius on the European Legends Tour for Over-50s, and had an action-packed round of 2-over 74 with five birdies, five bogeys, and a late double bogey on the 17th. Jeev was Tied-33rd. As many as 22 players shot under par at the challenging Els Club, where the IGPL is making its first international foray this week. (ANI)
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