Shamim Khan of Delhi shot a power-packed eightunder-64 to take a lead in round one of the BILT Open 2012 at the Delhi Golf Club (DGC) here on Wednesday.
Rashid Khan, another Delhi golfer, was in second place, one stroke behind the leader.
Md Islam of Patna was in third place with a score of 67, while Shamim’s elder brother Gulfam occupied joint fourth place at 68 along with Arshpreet Thind.
Tournament favourite Jyoti Randhawa occupies tied sixth position at three-under-69 along with Delhi’s Manav Jaini, Abhinav Lohan of Faridabad, Kolkata golfers Ranjit Singh Rathore and Shankar Das, Chandigarh’s Randhir Singh Ghotra and Rajesh Kumar Rawat of Lucknow.
Rajesh made a hole-in-one on the 17th. Manoj Kumar of Lucknow also made a hole-in-one on the 17th in his round of 75 that placed him tied 63rd.
Defending champion Chirag Kumar, meanwhile, carded a disappointing two over 74. Shamim, currently placed second on the 2012 Rolex Rankings, was off to a flying start at his home course with a super 64. He got on a roll with four straight birdies on the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth.
Shamim made further inroads with a 25-feet eagle putt on the 14th and a birdie on the 16th to close the day at 64.
“I’ve recently had problems with short putts but on this day I did not leave any putts as I have been working on my wrist movement. I played some good chip shots. The confidence is up as I’ve had a wonderful season so far having won two titles,” said Shamim.
Rashid also excelled on day one and his round of 65 featured an eagle and five birdies.
The 21-year-old, who has a title to his credit in the 2012 PGTI season, sank an eagle from 10 feet on the par-5 eighth and knocked-in a 40footer for birdie on the second.
“I did well on the par-5s today as I picked up four strokes on the 18th, first and eighth. My short-game has been quite sharp over the last few weeks and I even hit it well as I made 15 greens in regulation.”