Akshay, Karan shine on day one of J&K Open

Jammu, Oct 4 (PTI) Chandigarh’s Akshay Sharma and Karan Pratap Singh of Faridabad fired identical cards of four-under 68 to grab the joint lead after the opening round of J&K Open here on Wednesday.

The Delhi trio of Saarthak Chhibber, Kapil Kumar and Harshjeet Singh Sethie as well as Bengaluru’s Mari Muthu R were tied second at three-under 69.

Akshay, fresh from two top-3 finishes in the last two events, continued his hot streak with some outstanding chipping and putting at the Jammu Tawi Golf Course.

Akshay’s seven birdies included three brilliant chips that led to tap-ins and four conversions on the green from a range of 10 to 35 feet. Sharma also dropped three bogeys.

Karan, playing at JTGC for the first time, had a bogey-free day that featured two 15-feet birdie conversions. He also capitalized on two of the par-5s, the eighth and 18th, with good approach shots that led to birdies.

TATA Steel PGTI Rankings leader Om Prakash Chouhan and last week’s winner Aman Raj were both in tied ninth place at 71.

Pawan Parihar (79) was the highest-placed among the J&K-based players as he ended the day in tied 73rd place.